The Friendly Taste of Poison
by lunamontecore
Summary: Seventeen-year-old Lillian is a teenage runaway, having escaped her abusove mother whilst on holiday in Tuscany, Italy. She stumbles upon a safe-looking old town where she meets the Volturi leader Aro. Whilst Lillian has an intruiging gift she is dying to put to use by being turned and joining the Guard, creepy and over-friendly Aro has a much different plan for her future.
1. Chapter 1 - Escape

The air was uncomfortably warm, and the breeze was too slight to make it bearable. Her lungs were burning, muscles tender, her sweat sticky, cloying. Her hair clung to her forehead, her neck, her shoulders, her back – her blood sticky, cloying. Her wounds ached and pain shot up her right arm like a bullet, incapacitating her. A flashback replayed in her mind's eye. She was unable to pull her gaze away from what she saw.

The chains were all too real, it felt as if the cold, harsh metal still incarcerated her wrists, her neck, her ankles. She looked down. The raw red flesh throbbed in her joints, and her dislocated shoulder, scarred from a previous injury. The injury from the flashback.

 _The bowl of rancid cat food made her stomach growl. It was the only food that had been near her for three weeks. She did not care that it was for cats. She did not care that it was months past its use-by date. She did not care that it would be bad for her. It was food. That was what mattered. She stretched out forward with a deep breath, her arms spread out behind her like she was flying, like an angel falling from the sky. The shackles tore agonisingly into her wrists as she strained, desperate to reach the bowl with her tongue. Her shoulders burned and stung as she gave up caring, and flung herself forward with all her remaining strength. The skin tore. She screamed as her right shoulder ripped out of its socket and a tear opened at the top of her arm, hot blood streaming down her emaciated body._

She shuddered at the memory.

Her shoulder was healed now, barely, but at least she was free.

 _Freedom._

It did not feel as good as she had hoped it would.

But that feeling, that hope, the longing for the euphoria, propelled her. Though she felt as if she had been walking for an eternity, she wanted to be nowhere but the furthest she could be from Cecina as she could get. Thus, she trudged on, over the Italian countryside, wandering, lost, waiting until she felt safe enough to stop and find someone to help. "It would be so much more helpful if I knew Italian," she mumbled to herself in the dark, then laughed quietly. _Of all things,_ she thought, _I would be worried about that?_

She came to the top of the hill she had been climbing and observed the landscape. She would have preferred not to climb hundreds of feet up and down hills, but in central Tuscany, she had no choice. The entire landscape comprised of hills, each of them seeming to rise higher than the next to her weak physique. A town's friendly, alien, orange lights lit up the next hill, higher than the rest, and she felt a strange pull towards it. The silver light from the full moon gleamed off the buildings, enhancing the majesty of the city's strong walls, and two high towers atop the hill. Perhaps this place was safe enough?

She did not take the road into the town. She feared the cars' headlamps, ducking down into the grass whenever two yellow beams lit up the road, despite being so far from it. She knew that they would be looking for her. Her anxiety of being caught nearly choked her. She stumbled around the perimeter of the city, looking for a way in that would have no cameras, no witnesses. But each time she found an arch in the imposing stone wall, her panic swallowed her whole and she had to sit down and try to breathe.

But, after over an hour of searching, she found a smaller wall off the path she had been following, and away from all the roads. Carefully glancing over her shoulders, she raised her arms painfully above her head and her hands discovered the top of the wall. It was rough, and scraped her skin as she hauled herself up, wincing and biting her tongue in agony. She no longer cared about getting hurt again. She just wanted her ordeal to be over.

She fell hard to the ground with a thud, but was only grateful to be finally lying down. She rolled onto her stomach and her white hair fell over her eyes, and from under it she observed her new surroundings.

A contrast to the lonely and distressing landscape around, she lay in a small garden; tidy, decorated with nineteenth century lamps, emitting a comforting warm glow which illuminated the pretty space, reminding her of a lit fireplace in a countryside cottage in winter. A humid breeze swept around her, blowing towards her a new sound – water. In the centre of the small garden was situated a fountain. She dragged herself over to it, and was delighted to find the water clear and sparkling, and dipped her head under the curtain flowing from the higher stone tier into the pool, and drank. It tasted like the euphoria she had been searching for; her freedom, her release, her _life._ She rose and sat upon the edge of the pool of the fountain, and breathed deeply. The air smelt fresh and clear, filling her aching lungs with relief.

The flowerbed that ran a ring around the garden was home to a multitude of beautiful flowers, well cared for, and in a variety of colours, all dark blues and purples and black in the orange light, and perfectly complimenting several Roman-era statues standing proud. She couldn't identify them all, but the one directly before her was Venus, she was sure.

She strained a little smile, but it played more in her light blue eyes than it did on her full, broken lips. She leant backwards, and let the cool water envelope her body, and wash her clean. The small white nightgown clung to her torso and thighs, but it felt nice, and lastly, she dipped her head underwater.

Part of her did not want to come up. _I should stay down here,_ she pondered, _it would save me so much pain in the future. I really am a silly little girl to think I could just leave like that. They'll obviously find me. and I'll have to go back. They are my family after all, as horrid as they are. But maybe I deserve it. What am I good at really? I've never even been to school. I can't read properly. I have no friends. No one would miss me. My mum didn't even report my birth until I was three. I only know her, and her bastard of a boyfriend. No one would miss me. I'm good at nothing and no one would miss me. No one cares about me. I don't even care about me. No._ She shot back up and gasped for air. _I can't think like that. Not anymore. I'm still young; I can learn. I can meet people. I could have a normal life. Unlikely, very unlikely, no one would want me with all these scars, but maybe, yes, I could try._ She pulled her legs up to her chest and remained in the safe little space between the fountain's central column and the soft, flowing water.

She must have sat there for at least an hour; it was nice there. She wanted to remain there forever. She felt safe here.

Suddenly the light changed. Her heart reacted first, nearly jumping out of her chest. She peered toward the change in light, the shade that seemed to be approaching her. She couldn't see properly through the water, but she realised that when it passed in front of the lamp closest to the fountain that it was a man, and he was looking right at her. She looked away immediately and buried her head between her knees. But it was too late; he'd seen her.

He spoke to her, almost too quietly to hear over the rushing of the water. His words were Italian; she did not understand. His voice was deep, whispery, and though the tone sounded reassuring, a cold chill shot down her spine. "I . . ." she started, "I don't know Italian."

She dared herself to look up. He was sat on the edge of the fountain now. Strange, she had not heard him move. She could make out his features a little more clearly now. The orange light was still tricking her eyes, for while she could make out black hair, white skin and black clothes, even after blinking several times she only saw his eyes as a bright, terrifying red.

He looked her directly in the eyes, and raised his hand toward her. "There is no need to be afraid, my dear, you can come out from under there."

She had never spoken to anyone before who wasn't her two family members, the occasional postman or airport staff. She was almost as afraid of meeting new people as she was staying with the ones she knew. Nevertheless, she told herself to be brave, and took his hand by the fingertips. Surprisingly, she wasn't shaking. His hand was cold, but so was she. His skin was hard too, like the stone on which they sat. She looked down at her lap, abruptly ashamed to have been caught trespassing. This garden must be his.

"What is your name, sweetheart?"

"Lillian," she whispered.

He let go of her hand, and she found the courage to look at his face. No, she had not been mistaken. His eyes were most definitely red. His jet-black hair hung straight to his shoulders, and he wore a suit of an identical colour, minus a tie. What most struck her was the contrast between his hair's dark colour, and the chalky pallor of his skin. She thought that he was handsome in a way, despite the stark disparity in the colours of his face. She though him a sort of creepier, male Snow White.

"Lillian, what were you doing in the fountain?" He cocked his head to the side, inquisitive.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Surely there must be a reason," the man said, and smiled. "It is not a common occurrence for young women to materialise in our little fountain here."

Lillian couldn't help but smile too. But then she remembered why she was there, and the smile fell from her lips. "I was hiding."

"Why?" Why did he want to know?

"I ran away from my mum. We were on holiday in Cecina. Or, she and her boyfriend were." She sniffed, and gazed at the wounds on her wrists. She looked up at him again, and his attention had been diverted to them also.

He took her left wrist in his hand, and touched the raw skin tenderly. "Did they do this to you?"

She nodded. _But you don't know him! Why are you telling him this?_ A lump formed in her throat and she forced herself to swallow it. "Yes." Wasn't he going to introduce himself? She was too afraid to ask.

His face morphed into an expression of concern. She could not discern if it was genuine. "That is horrible indeed. Do they have a reason for harming you so?" Lillian felt uneasy, as if he was talking down to her, or using her for his own amusement, but she tried to shake that feeling away. If she was going to get better, she needed to learn to trust people. _And I can start with him._

"The twins," she said.

He raised his eyebrows, prompting her to explain.

She shook her head. "It's just a myth." She tried to relax a bit, and swung her legs out of the fountain and put her right hand by her side instead of on her lap. He let go of her left wrist. "Apparently, like a thousand years ago, there were two twins in my family, a boy and a girl, who were called witches by the village so they were burnt at the stake. But that's _not_ what happened, because their cousin went out into the wood to hunt deer or something, I don't know, and when he came back everyone was dead, the houses were on fire, and the twins were nowhere to be seen. My mum says that they conjured up the devil to save them." Her shoulder began to throb a little, and she rubbed it gently.

"I see, but how does that tale influence her to harm you, her own offspring?"

"She says the twins had some sort of special powers, and that I do too, but if I really did, then I wouldn't have managed to escape her so late. I would have probably ended up conjuring the devil to save me or something, too." She chuckled briefly, but he laughed, and clasped his hands together, entertained. His smile was knowing, as if he was withholding something important from her. But he could not possibly know anything about her family's story, so she dismissed the feeling once again as due to her lack of social experience.

"I imagine we all would have, given the situation," he grinned, and reached up to stroke the side of her face with his fingertips. "What does she think you can do?"

Lillian shook her head again. "I don't know. But I don't think I want to have a super power or something if it meant I was evil. I don't want to hurt people."

"Ah," he replied, leaning towards her, clearly much more interested in the conversation than she was. "If, hypothetically, there was a chance you could have a _super power_ and yet refrain from slaughtering entire villages and hurting those who have done no wrong, would you take it?"

She hesitated. It was getting light. If there was a helicopter or something looking for her, it could see her out here . . . "I don't know. But I think that if I were the twins, I would want revenge on the people who hurt me too. They deserved it, if it's true, to hurt innocent children like that." She looked up at the sky. "I might take that chance. But I wouldn't if my power would be to hurt people." She glanced back at him. "Sorry, but what is your name? I can't remember if you told me."

"Oh! I am sorry, I've got ahead of myself. Your story is so intriguing, Lillian!" His pale lips grew into a full, teeth baring grin, briefly before he continued. "I am Aro."

"Like the weapon?"

He laughed. "Ha ha, no, three letters. A, R, and O."

She smiled back at him. He was such a happy person. She envied him.

Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he lifted his up his hands and reached towards her, then paused, revising his train of thought. He put his hands together, and raised them to his lips. "Sweet Lillian, can you keep a secret?"

"I think so," she replied, "yes." She chuckled once to herself. _It's not like I have anyone to tell any to._

He leaned very close to her then, and she could smell his sweet breath as he spoke. "Some people _do_ have gifts beyond the ordinary," he revealed, and stroked a strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. "I, being one of them."

She didn't know what to make of this. Could he be crazy? Or could stories like the twins' really be true? Her confusion only served to confirm to her that she really did know nothing about the world, and just how vulnerable she really was. Aro could be anybody. He could really have a 'gift' like he said, or he could be a madman. She had no idea how to tell. Except to ask. "You do?"

"Yes, here." He took her hand.

She looked up at his face as he closed his eyes, and pulled her closer to him. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer immediately.

She just sat there, watching his face, in the rainbow colours of dawn. She noticed red clouds in the sky, so she gazed at them, mesmerised. She'd never had much of a chance in her short life to stare at the sky freely.

Aro regained her attention when he released her hand. Lillian had been daydreaming; she'd no idea how long they had been sat like that. She watched his face again, waiting for him to explain what he was doing.

And from that day forth, she would become unsure whether she had ever stopped daydreaming.


	2. Chapter 2 - Revelations

A pained expression crossed Aro's face as he put his hands back together, under his chin. Lillian waited for him to speak, her nerves wrecking her insides but her lungs taking in slow, steady breaths. In the light of the early day she noticed a tree in the corner of the garden, by the wall over which she'd climbed. It was a young tree; smaller than other ones of its kind she had seen, yet just like them in that its brown bark was peeling away to reveal a grey inner layer, and its dark green fingers of leaves rustled softly in the new breeze. The day was beginning. Yet, there was no birdsong.

Aro's soft voice harshly broke the silence, snapping her attention back to him. "How wonderful it is that you are here, my love. What you have suffered is truly, truly horrific." She opened her mouth to ask him how he knew what she had been through, but he continued. "My gift is centred in the palm of my hands. With one touch," he smirked, "I can hear every thought one has ever had."

Lillian did not know whether to be alarmed by this or not. He had read her mind? He had heard _every single one_ of her thoughts? Her mind had been violated too, now? She thought she should have been disturbed and upset, yet all she could utter was the question: "so you understand me?" Then she was frightened. He had experienced everything she had through her mind. What if he had been hurt by what he saw? "I'm sorry if it was too . . ." _Your experience has nothing on other people, I bet, what you've been hurt by is nothing. You're just weak._

"Do not fret, sweet one. Though of course I am disturbed by what you have undergone, you need not worry about me." He lifted her chin gently with his fingertips, and only then did she notice she was crying. "You have my deepest sympathy, Lillian." He looked into her eyes, sternly. "You are safe now, I will make sure of it."

"Thank you," she sniffed. _Why is he so kind? I don't deserve this._

"You are worth much more than you allow yourself to believe."

She shook her head. "But you know I can't do anything special," she replied as she diverted her eyes back to the tree.

Aro raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened. "Quite on the contrary!"

"Hmm?" She was confused. If he'd really heard her thoughts, he would know as much as she did – that she wasn't special, and that she didn't have some sort of magical power.

"My darling Lillian, you have one of the _most powerful_ and _exciting_ gifts I have ever happened upon in all my years!" _All his years?_ He looked in his late twenties at the oldest to her eyes. And what did he mean about a powerful gift? It wasn't as if she could fly. She wondered that maybe he really was a madman as she'd considered earlier. A very convincing madman.

"What do you mean?" Though slightly more confident, her voice was still very quiet, and unsure.

"Sweetling, you are in Volterra. This night, while suffering from painful, debilitating injuries and near starvation and dehydration," – he raised his palms up in wonder – "you walked twenty-three miles. That should have killed you."

 _Twenty-three miles?_ That could not be right. "How is that a gift?"

Aro grinned, and tilted his head to the side, clasping his hands together again. "You do not remember the instance when you were electrocuted in a bathtub at three years old. That, too, should have killed you, and so should have many, many other incidents through which you have endured. La mia cara, your _gift_ is a gift indeed. It seems, that quite possibly, you possess the inability to die."

 _Oh._

"That . . . makes sense." She gave him a smile. "Thank you." She was unsure of what she was thanking him for, but she felt as if she needed to. This stranger had been kinder to her than anyone she had ever known before, and she was very grateful. She looked into his eyes as she thought about this, and a question formed on the tip of her tongue. _His eyes._ "Can I ask you a question?"

"Si, of course."

She felt unsure about this question. She didn't want to offend her new friend. An abrupt gust of wind blew her hair into her mouth as she braved asking. "Why do you have red eyes?"

He suddenly looked up, to the sky. "It is getting light. I'm enjoying our little chat; shall we continue it inside?" He stroked her cheek delicately. "You must be needing to sleep. I will answer your question in a moment." His tone was comforting, and she was comfortable with him putting his arm around her as they stood up, and as he guided to her to the plain, mahogany door in the side of the building that made up one side of the garden wall.

Inside was a corridor that angled downwards, into the hill. It was plain, with industrial grey carpet and white walls with tube lighting. It didn't fit with Aro's look – he was smart, and his features perfect, not a single smooth, perfectly straight hair out of place. This corridor was too out of place; fake, a façade. It smelt wrong, too, Lillian thought. It was like fresh paint and dust, unlike Aro, whose breath was even pleasant. His hand was placed gingerly on her waist, and though it was a comforting gesture, Lillian couldn't help but feel unnerved about her proximity to him. Like this corridor, something about him was . . . _off._

Soon the atmosphere of the passageway changed, and they came to a harsh iron gate, its grills stretching from wall to wall. It was a fearsome thing, but Aro unlocked and opened the heavy door with ease. It did not creak.

He led her through another short series of plain corridors leading downwards until she was sure that they were underground and she began to panic internally and her throat felt as if it were closing up and she suddenly clung onto Aro to avoid falling. He looked concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she stammered, "just claustrophobia." She tried to stabilise herself and took several quick, deep breaths.

He removed his hand from her waist and took a few steps away from her.

"No," she protested. "Not you. Underground."

"I'm afraid most of our small company here reside underground." He touched the top of her arm, something Lillian was aware people did when they wanted someone to like them, or when they were being persuasive. She didn't mind though, he was clearly only trying to help her. "They are all very talented, just like us. Would you like to meet them?"

Who was he? Was this where all the freaks like her came to live? Had she been that lucky? _No, not lucky. If I am apparently gifted, and I am hated and tortured for what I can do and I can't even do something as cool as Aro, and people hate me for only being related to people who had powers . . . If that boy and girl really existed . . ._

 _Then they've suffered as much as me._ The notion broke her heart. She couldn't fathom the idea of other people being hurt. The troublesome thought made her forget her claustrophobia.

She was unsure if she wanted to meet these people. And she was still sceptical over whether Aro was telling the truth. "I am, don't you worry." He gave her a small, warm smile. _He read my mind!_ Aro chuckled. "Yes, I can." He tilted his head to the right, down the hallway. "Shall we?"

The door at the end of this, wooden floored hallway was astonishingly ornate. Gold leaf adorned the frame and the delicate swirling pattern, and several large red rubies embellished the coil of each of the swirls. Lillian was in awe. _It's amazing._ "If you like jewels, I have many more lying around that you could have, perhaps, if you take a liking to them." Lillian's mind was distracted from the door now, her eyes watching the CCTV camera pointed at them.

All of the ideas whizzing around her head about the possibilities of how these new people would be; how Aro's home looked; how she could cope immersed in a world she knew nothing about – none of them could have prepared her for what she saw beyond the door. It was magnificent display of a hallway; sparkling black marble stretched out in front of her, in the floor and the walls, the ceilings a majestic crimson, and the grand golden doors on both sides decorated with cerise curtains, shadowing them from the several crystal chandeliers hanging in even intervals along the ceiling. Small glass tables sat between some of the doors, situating small items like a bunch of flowers in a vase, and miniatures of the statues from the garden. _This_ suited Aro more.

He nudged her gently in the small of her back and took her to the end of the corridor, and opened a door there on the right, by a small potted primula vialii. There was no hint of dust on the table. This place was _spotless_. Lillian stepped inside this new room, and was again greeted by a stark contrast in colours. This room was gold; a rich, delicate gold created with the same gold leaf that beautified the door earlier, but now played Midas on the ceiling, the room's corners and between the glittering black stones of the floor. The light in this room was entirely artificial, again emitted from grand but not gaudy chandeliers, and it was cold, unlike the town aboveground. Its shape was uniquely octagonal, and upon each of the eight walls was a gorgeous, colourful renaissance era painting, though she recognised none. A few people were scattered around this room in small groups, and all had turned to face the door when Lillian and Aro entered, but Lillian's eyes were drawn to the centre of the room to a high dais, upon which sat five thrones, all as unique and as magnificent as the others, embellished with their own designs and precious stones. Two men and two women already sat upon four of them, the one in the centre empty. The men were dressed in long black robes, the women in pretty, classy dresses. They were all staring at her, and she shied away behind Aro.

"What is this, Aro?" Questioned the man on the throne furthest to Lillian's right. He was tall in stature but his hollow cheeks and white hair gave the impression of being weak and frail, yet the clarity and confidence of his voice stood as a bare refutation of that idea. She watched him curiously.

Aro took Lillian by the arm and pulled her gently towards the centre of the room. "Dear Caius, this is Lillian. She has a wonderful gift!" _Wonderful_ didn't look like a word Caius had ever said in his life, as he glared at Lillian sourly. "She cannot die!" Aro rejoiced. "Even after struggling more than twenty miles in her condition she has not even thought once about water, or food. Such a marvel!"

Caius's response was heavily cynical in tone. "And how will that be of benefit to us? If _anything,_ it serves to be a problem now she knows too much."

"Brother, I thought you would understand. She has this gift now, thus has the potential to evolve into something more powerful when she is one of us. Perchance," he looked back at Lillian and smiled again, "she may be able to protect others than herself from harm."

 _Protect people? Is that what he was on about earlier when he said there was a chance she could have a power and not hurt anyone?_ But something else in their conversation made her hairs stand up on end. _When she is one of us._ What did he mean by that?

Her soft, scared voice was barely audible to her own ears as she spoke. "When I'm like you?"

A tall and brooding man in plain clothes standing by the painting to the left of the door locked eyes with her. His were a menacing red, like Aro's. She looked away, back to Caius, who was glaring at Aro, paying Lillian no attention. She couldn't discern the colour of his eyes from this distance.

Aro wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and when his cold, hard skin touched hers she suddenly understood. These people, whoever they were, weren't exactly . . . human.

Aro heard her distress and quickly adjusted his expression to comfort her. "Like us? Yes indeed." His other hand stroked her cheek gently, but it served more to unnerve her than to console. Surprisingly, it was her own conscience that told her what she needed to hear. _If they were going to hurt you, they would have done it already. Didn't you hear Aro? He wants you to be like him. He read your mind and still he likes you, he wants you here. Someone wants me._

She had to agree with that, and Aro relaxed, having heard her conclusion too, though it was Caius who spoke first. "You haven't told her yet?"

"Tol-," Lillian began, but the frosty glower Caius was giving her made her quiet. _Told me what?_ She thought, looking up at Aro. Her eyes flickered back to the dais when the woman on the throne by Caius rose, and stepped over to stand beside him and take his hand. She was beautiful; tall, and thin, with long, thick white hair. She must be his wife.

"Brother, please be less harsh toward this young one. She has suffered enough today." He stood up straight, and took away his hand from her shoulder. "We are vampires, my love."

Vampires?

She jumped as a sudden snort of laughter erupted nearby, only realising a moment later it was hers.

"Is there something wrong with her?" Caius asked Aro, but Aro only chuckled.

"Are you alright, Lillian?"

All of her fear swiftly fled her body, and she breathed deeply, somehow relieved. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just . . . didn't expect . . . vampires." A crystal from a chandelier twinkled in the corner of her eye. "I'm not scared." She smiled. If she were a vampire, immortal, she would certainly never be caught and sent back to her basement in England to rot until old age. She could never get hurt again, and live forever, with this man here, who seemed to care so much more for her than anyone else ever had. She felt that she owed him. She owed him her life, and she was giving it to him. "If you meant that you'd like me to be a vampire too, I can do that."

Aro rubbed his hands together and smirked. "Contrarily-,"

"Contrarily?" Caius snapped. Lillian was beginning to take a strong dislike to that vampire, who forever seemed to be interrupting with unnecessary passionate scorn. Maybe she had missed something.

Aro put his face in his palm for a brief moment, apparently irritated.

The other man on the thrones spoke up then. He was unlike Caius, with black hair waving to his shoulders, an average build and a face that wore an expression of eternal boredom. Perhaps he'd had too much of Caius's constant picking, like Aro seemed to have had. "You should turn her now, Aro, if that's what you believe her talent to be. She could save us a great tragedy." His voice was deep like Aro's but far more whispery, and fainter, as if he were not quite there.

Aro nodded. "Of course, Marcus, I will turn her as soon as it is appropriate." He moved so fast then, too fast for Lillian's eyes to register he had moved until his face came creepily close to hers, and his hands rested upon both her shoulders. "But first, there is something else of _high_ importance she can help us with."

 _Me, a human, help with something that's really important to vampires?_ She was immediately interested. _He thinks I could be good at something?_

She and Caius spoke synchronously. "What is it?"

"Lillian, we are, hmm, what you may consider the vampire form of law-enforcement," Aro explained, "recently, we happened upon a type of case we had not judged afore. I believe _your_ particular _gifts_ can help us reach a final conclusion."

Devilishly, Caius smirked.


	3. Chapter 3 - Feeling

Lillian woke to the smell of fresh sheets in her face. Soft, and gentle, the fabric caressed her legs as she slowly swung them over the side of the mattress. _Ouch._ The mattress was not on a frame – her heels hit the hard stone floor immediately. She yanked her legs up to her chest and sat, rubbing her feet, in the foetal position. Her snowy hair felt silky and smooth. _Odd._ Instinctively she flicked it behind her shoulder and reached up to nurse her wound; it was throbbing a little. She opened her eyes. To her surprise, it was plastered with a white gauze, and smelt curiously of some sort of medicinal chemical. Even stranger, the sheets bore no evidence of blood, but shone a beautiful, dazzling white in the glaring light emitted from a large circular bulb on the grey ceiling. She stared at it for a moment, the circle of light perfectly reflected rimming the circle of her pupils. The brightness of the room was infinite; it was made entirely of old stones, the ancient alabaster for which Volterra was famous, pale and pretty and polished.

Faint memories of a refreshing shower the night before and someone with a fancy-looking first aid kit returned gradually, and she smiled. _Wait. Someone with a first aid kit . . . a_ human _woman with a first aid kit._ Human. That word played around her mind, dancing over all her other thoughts as she inspected the rest of her wounds. All taken care of, all bandaged, and funny smelling. _Human. I'm human in a . . . town? Underground . . . nest? Of vampires – nice vampires, though._ She thought of Aro. _They're not like they are in the movies. And, he wants me to join them, their pack, or coven, whatever you call a group of vampires. Wait. Am I a vampire now?_ She gently peeled off the gauze on her shoulder but was greeted with the familiar ugly sight of a scar. _No, I'm human._ Then she remembered – Aro thought she wasn't a useless human like everyone else she knew did. Her heart jumped and began to pound with excitement. _What is it that I'm good at? Why didn't he tell me? I really want to know!_ Whatever it was, Lillian was sure that she was going to try her hardest at it. This vampire – no, man – had got her a doctor, a comfortable bed, and a sense of purpose. Not to mention the many friends she was going to make as a vampire. _But will they like me?_ She frowned. _And won't I fail at whatever I'm going to do, like I always do?_

A clunking noise echoed off the walls and Lillian's head snapped around to watch two vampires enter the room, each holding something. A wonderful smell filled the room, and Lillian rose, her stomach growling. _Food._ Another memory played back. She'd eaten before she'd slept, too. She stared hungrily at the two figures approaching her. It was going to take a little while for Lillian to be able to properly discern who was a vampire or a human from a distance, so she decided that she would assume anyone she met here was a vampire unless they proved otherwise. One of the women had long, dark brown hair, flowing down her back like strands of silk, while the other's light brown curls hung down to her elbows like many compressed springs, ready to bounce into action. It reminded her that they could pounce at any moment, like vipers. She had not forgotten how fast Aro could move. She was immediately intimidated by these striking women. Everything about them was perfect. Their faces, their bodies, their posture . . . she could never compare.

The woman with curly hair smiled warmly at her, and glided over to the mattress in the centre of the room and set down a tray. It was covered with five small plates, each with its own tasty pile of foods, some she didn't recognise. There was a small English breakfast on one, a bowl of cereal on another, and fruits, exotic fruits she had no name for. Three strange silver objects sat at the side of the tray. "Good morning," the vampire said, her voice smooth and seductive, her unsettling red eyes locked into Lillian's. "I am Chelsea." The other vampire flitted over to them, and she held a soft pile of purple velvet that could only be a dress. She was taller than the other one, and even more beautiful, and Lillian gawped, disbelieving. "And this is Heidi. Aro sent us to look after you think morning."

Her heart jolted in surprise. "This morning?" She had gone to bed in the morning – there was no way she could have slept an entire day, could there? Her erratic thoughts latched onto another thing Chelsea had said. "Where is Aro?" She was increasingly nervous. She didn't know these vampires, and they didn't know her – at least not like Aro did. She did not notice the more obvious and immediate worry. How well could these vampires control themselves around a human? The young woman was oblivious. "Is he okay?"

"Yes," Heidi smiled, her dazzling white teeth sparkling in the light. Lillian was in awe. "He would like to see you in the afternoon, after you have eaten lunch." Lillian was excited. And lunch! As well as breakfast! She was _ecstatic_ beyond comprehension. _So much food,_ she thought, as she grabbed a rasher of bacon with her bare hand and inhaled its delicious smell before wolfing it down. Heidi and Chelsea watched her curiously as she ate the rest of the food with her hands, ignoring the knife, fork and spoon provided. In truth, Lillian did not know what they were for.

After she had eaten, the two women guided her to an adjacent room, equally as bare and basic, which situated a plain shower in the corner, a toilet missing a toilet seat, and a cracked mirror set upon the dull grey, concrete wall, above a metal sink. Lillian enjoyed a brief hot shower, after awkwardly asking how to use it and the purpose of each of the bottles of soaps. The heat of the whirring, old shower felt wonderful to Lillian, so warm and cosy; even the hard concrete of the room was welcoming, a solid, protective cage from the outside world. _A world I'll never have to face again._

She drifted off into a daydream, wondering about her future as a vampire; what vampires were like; whether all the myths were false, and they were all as lovely as Aro. She paid little attention to the two women as her wounds were redressed and she was led into yet another room. This room had a soft red carpet, and rows and rows of clothes hanging on rails from wall to wall. She thought nothing about all the clothes; she didn't really care for fashion. Lillian cared about feeling: touch; taste; emotional warmth. She returned to reality as Heidi took her towel from her and handed her a strapless black bra and plain black underwear. She had some trouble understanding how to put on the bra, but managed nonetheless, and took the soft violet dress from where it now hung. Her ribs ached uncomfortably under the new bra, but _I'll get used to it._ The dress felt exactly as it looked – like heaven against her sore body. It fit all-too comfortably, and she happily twirled around, watching it swish. It was light in weight, and hung by two thin strips of fabric on her shoulders, to a neat hem cut just above her knees. She spied a silver-framed mirror in the corner of the room, and warily walked up to it.

She didn't recognise the girl in the mirror. Her centre-parted white hair was straight and smooth all the way down to her waist. There was no frizz or blood knotting it. Her skin was pale but held a healthier glow, bandages on her wrists, ankles and one shoulder, and her bruises were already beginning to fade. Again, no blood. The eyes sparkled blue, life behind them. They didn't look red, nor swollen, no evidence of tears. She smiled. The full, pink lips of this girl weren't cracked, and she reached up and ran her finger along them. _Soft._ She couldn't help but grin wider.

 _Oh._

 _It is me after all._

Her self-esteem immediately plummeted and her eyes welled up. Chelsea instantly flashed to her side. "What's wrong, Lillian?"

She began to sob. Her legs like jelly, and she sank to the floor and curled up, burying her head into her knees to get the mirror out of her sight. "My teeth," she stuttered. "I'm missing a few." She looked up warily. Chelsea looked as if she were searching for something appropriate to say. Lillian could forgive her for that; it must be weird talking to a human about such a silly thing. "I can't fix that."

"I'm sure there are ways," Chelsea said, kneeling by her side, "humans get new teeth all the time." She had an accent, but Lillian couldn't quite place it. It wasn't Italian; Greek perhaps?

"New teeth?" She was curious.

"Yes, it's possible. Besides, you don't need to worry about that. It doesn't matter to us." She gave her a comforting smile, and stood up. _"And_ Aro wants to see you after lunch, remember?"

 _Yes, that's right. Stop crying. You'll make him sad if he sees you like this. After all he's done for you, you're going to cry about your teeth of all things? Grow up._ Lillian sniffed, and got up. Heidi gave her an assuring smile. "Put these on," she said, handing Lillian a pair of black heels. Lillian balked – she'd never worn heels once in her life. "And come this way."

She hobbled unsteadily in the shoes for the first few metres, arms outstretched to balance, wondering if Heidi or Chelsea would catch her if she fell. They expressions were calm and professional, but Lillian felt as if she knew they were mocking her inside. Despite her lack of self-esteem, she felt a small amount of pride in how quickly she adjusted to the shoes, and allowed herself a small smile as she sat down at a long, polished mahogany table, food magically already prepared for her. _I must be dreaming,_ she thought, as she gingerly picked up a tomato and cheese panini, sniffing it a little before taking a curious bite. It tasted wonderful.

The vampires left the room as Lillian ate; she assumed they'd gone to talk to the other vampires, their friends, or to Aro. _Aro._ Being alone made her feel like she had a chance to think about him, though she didn't really want to, seeing as everything she thought, he would discover. But what did that matter, really? He already knew every single little thing about her – and of course he would know she'd be thinking about him, even without reading her mind. She swallowed another mouthful of panini and took a sip of water from a sparkling, crystal clear glass. There was no sunlight shining in through any windows, and she was all alone in this long, pristine wooden room, but she felt warm. _Someone is looking after me. Someone actually cares about me._ She pictured Aro's pale, happy face. _He sees good in me. Aro thinks I can do something really important and I don't have to change anything about myself to do it._ She was, in effect, completely awestruck by him. She found herself so lost in thought and admiration of her new friend that her focus was no longer on the food she had been given, but the future she was going to get. She'd never thought of her future properly before. Meeting Aro had filled her with hope.

Soon, Heidi and Chelsea came back into the room, entering via a large but plain wooden door at the end of the long chamber, and they moved so fast once the door was closed that all Lillian saw was two blurry streaks through the air and suddenly the two of them in the chairs by her sides. Heidi spoke first. "You are enjoying your food, yes?" Lillian felt strongly inclined to say yes. She nodded, and noted Heidi had in an accent dissimilar to Chelsea's, yet also hard for her to place. "We are going to tell you a little about our coven." _Oh, okay._ She was nervous, afraid of hearing something that may upset her. These were vampires, after all – they _did_ kill people like her, didn't they? But she was curious nonetheless. She swallowed a large gulp of water and took a deep breath in through her mouth, tasting the old air of the room and almost coughing.

She listened intently as Chelsea began to tell her about the group of vampires. Lillian's memory was abysmal; she focussed on the important details instead of on everything that the women told her, repeating it over and over in her head so that she would remember. She gathered that this 'coven' of vampires was called The Volturi, and they enforced the law that humans cannot know about vampires existing. She remembered Aro asking her if she could keep a secret yesterday, so that made sense. She found that vampires don't sleep, fear garlic or crosses, and nor could someone kill them with a wooden stake. They _did_ drink human blood, but not as much as she'd expected, and they all could keep their cool around humans to a good standard. "But you will need to be careful," Chelsea warned, a concerned expression twisting her perfect face. "Yet," she comforted, "we are sure that won't happen. Heidi and I have a great deal of experience around humans and Aro assigned us to take care of you." Lillian looked from Chelsea to Heidi, who smiled. _So he trusts them with a poor, weak human like me. And he knows what I need._ She decided to try to trust them. "There's not much here that could accidentally cut you anyway, unless you fell into it."

Lillian gazed at her feet. "I guess I should take off these shoes then," she joked dryly. She didn't look up to see if her attempt at humour had been appreciated.

When she had finished her meal she was given the opportunity to use the bathroom again. Alone again, she leant over the metal sink and realised she was shaking. She had become so used to anxiety eating her alive that she hadn't noticed the physical symptoms that had remained constant, especially not now her mind was preoccupied. What was Aro going to say to her? She suddenly panicked then, her throat seizing up and the knot in her guts squeezing so hard it felt like she had been punched. Her vision started swimming and she quickly let herself drop to the hard floor, landing painfully on her coccyx. She took in heavy, deep breaths as she tried to relax. But she had no idea what she could talk to him about. He already knew everything that she could possibly say – what else was there that she could talk to him about? _Vampires?_ She pondered that for a moment. _But mightn't that seem rude? I don't know what vampires talk about! Ask him then,_ an intrusive voice snapped. _Ask him what he wants to talk about. That's polite. And he's bound to have a tonne of things to say. Don't be stupid. You're always so stupid._ She got even more shaky when she remembered Aro was effectively the most powerful man on the planet. Should she be afraid of him even more? Should she act like he was a king or something? Should she still only see him as her saviour?

She took a final deep breath, undecided, and left the room.

* * *

"My dear sweet Lillian!" Aro sang as he saw her enter the room. "You look wonderful!" The dress Heidi had chosen for her suited her skin tone _so well,_ but it could not detract from the plethora of imperfections her mortal skin wore. _Oh,_ and in addition to the many scars that adorned her body. However mortal this human's body appeared, he knew better than to assume it behaved so. He _knew_ that she was a more . . . durable, perhaps, type of human. He had witnessed in her short memory of her great suffering and her survival. Her ability to survive surpassed that of any other human, or immortal, he had ever chanced upon – and he was sure to make use of it.

He flitted over to her and embraced her warmly. It was not without strain; though the covered wound on her shoulder was not open, nor were there any remnants of blood on her skin, the gauze reminded him of memories of hers that had him feel blood pooling around his head, burning his throat. And she _did_ have an appealing scent, after all.

"Aro," she said, a twang of nervousness in her young voice. "Thank you." Her blue eyes looked up into his shyly, yet unafraid. This was one _strange_ girl. He took her small, soft hand in his, ignoring the temptation of her gentle pulse, and pressed the skin to his palm. _Does he have to do that?_ She was thinking. _No, let him. He only wants to help._ Her mind had been set alight with a fire of similar thoughts throughout the day, and he smiled smugly internally at having achieved so quickly the first aim of his plan. This girl could not die, so even though he truly did not mean her _too much_ harm, it would be unproductive of him to prompt her to think even one unsavoury thought concerning him or The Volturi.

He released her hand, and took her face in his hands and gave her a tender kiss on her lips. "Good afternoon my dear." She liked that, and a smile tried to pull at the corners of her mouth. Aro mused over Lillian's surprising lack of true fear. Surely any human would have instantly attempted an escape or fainted from fear, more so one as small, fragile and traumatised as this one. Her desire for family and validation surpassed all other feelings, and Aro gleefully reflected on his decision to entrust her induction to Volterra with Heidi and Chelsea.

Too quickly for Lillian to notice, he locked eyes with Chelsea and raised one black brow rapidly – a signal. She immediately responded, and Lillian's smile widened, revealing the gaps in her teeth she hated. But that didn't matter to her now; only that she was with Aro. "Good afternoon," she replied.

All of this had happened in less than two seconds; Lillian remained entirely oblivious to the progression in Aro's plan; that he even had a plan in the first place. Her eyes searched the room, a smaller room than the one he had introduced her to the day before, and watched her face as she scanned the smaller paintings of the Italian countryside on the walls, and the deep green wallpaper and russet carpeted floor. Suddenly her cheeks filled with a red blush, and he speculated which part of the room could have roused the blood in her face, though he must not give her the impression he would intrude on her. Despite having already made use of Chelsea's gift, bounding her even more tightly to him, he was not going to take any chances.

He took her over to a small table and gestured for her to take a seat, and she did. She seemed to take a liking to that small wooden Victorian chair with a red cushion, and he waited patiently to regain her attention as she adjusted herself on it and observe a patterned lampshade behind him. What _was_ she thinking?

* * *

Lillian snapped back to attention as the white light filtering in from the hallway vanished from the corner of her eye, as Chelsea and Heidi left the room while she and Aro sat. She blushed, realising she had been thinking embarrassing thoughts again. _Can I not think about anything other than him?_ Then from the moment Aro opened his mouth, her gaze fixated firmly on his face once again, mesmerised. She didn't pay as much attention to what he was saying as to how he was saying it. He had a strange, unique voice, but she liked it. It was almost as if he had tailored his words to dance like music in her ears.

He presented her this old book he had brought, running a pale index finger below the letters, showing her – teaching her – words and letters; many of the latter she had no previous names for. She was fascinated by it; its colours fluttering around large letters that marked the beginning of a chapter; the leather shell; the old, musty scent yet its perfect condition. Aro was so good for teaching her this. She didn't believe that she deserved such kindness. _If he were human_ , she considered, _I would say he had a very warm soul._

It wasn't until the end of the day, wrapped up warm in her soft white sheets in the alabaster room, did she realise she was beginning to fall for him.


	4. Chapter 4 - Decisions

The next day was much the same, as was the day after, and so forth. Lillian enjoyed her new routine – rising early at seven, practicing her reading in a grand library and learning more about vampires and the Volturi before she ate lunch at one, after which she spent with Aro until the evening when she felt sleepy, even while she ate. She could tell that she interested him as a human, not just as someone he liked. She didn't mind how he watched her eat her dinner, or once tickled her, or teased her with her food; he was only being friendly, and trying to understand her more. She didn't believe there was anything more to it; she was happy she had finally found a friend.

She saw a little more of Caius and Marcus too, and Aro's wife Sulpicia and Caius's wife Athenodora, who on the third day seemed suddenly very enthusiastic to meet Lillian, much to the girl's confusion. The attention and ostensible popularity was something she thought she'd have to get used to, but she couldn't hide from Aro that it made her uncomfortable. "There is no need to worry about that, sweet one," he'd comforted, "we are just so unused to having a human join our merry coven. We are as curious about you as you are us."

"Not, you though," Lillian replied, "you know everything about me."

"Ah but Lillian, you have so much potential you have yet to realise! And there so many situations in which you have not been tested like another human your age would have been. I may know your past, but I guarantee that it is far much more trying for anyone to predict how you will react in the time ahead."

She considered that for a moment. "That's true. I've barely ever been out of the house." And what a house she was living in now! She and Aro sat in the grand library, such a large room that Lillian could not see to the other side for all the towering shelves of books, ancient and modern, stretching from the mahogany floor and its regal red rugs to the high ceiling, painted with many large renaissance masterpieces, undiscovered by the outside world. "You like art a lot?" She had asked him earlier, prompting him to explain passionately his love of the arts, the different kinds of arts, and his favourite trends and styles from the centuries to her. She'd found it fascinating. She had seen small things about museums on TV, but Aro seemed to know _everything_. She'd hung onto his every word, listening intently.

"It's so _wasteful_ ," Aro replied, "for you to have never even seen the world." He cupped her face gently in his hands. "When you are one of us, a vampire, you can travel the entire globe, I promise. Our work takes us all far and wide." He took his hands away from her face, and leant on his elbow on the small table next to them. He'd been showing her another book, and she was learning very fast. "How does that sound?"

She couldn't help but grin, but her gut knotted in worry. "That sounds great."

He cocked his head to the side. "You don't sound too enthused."

She hesitated for a moment, then reached for his hand. She couldn't really describe how she was thinking aloud, so she thought that maybe she could show him.

He held her hand and rubbed the back of it gently. "Don't be afraid. You will have me by your side, and I am wholly confident that you will fit very well in the Volturi."

She cast her eyes downwards. "I can't see it. I don't know if I can do anything."

"There is nothing you cannot be taught, but for the most part, you already know what you need." He lifted her chin to look sternly in her eyes. "Lillian, you are _exactly_ the kind of girl I was looking for to fill this position. There is no need to fret, my love. All will fall into place." She'd begun to find comfort in his strange cherry eyes and icy touch. It was so different to the contact she'd had with anyone else. The memory of the warmth of human touch suddenly made her shudder, and the blue and brown eyes haunted her nightmares. Not even Aro could keep the dreams away.

She bit her lip to derail that train of thought. "I hope so."

His whispery voice took on a more serious tone, and she shot upright. "I care about you. _We_ care about you. You will _never_ have to endure again what you have suffered. I will not only protect you, but very soon you will know how to protect yourself, and to protect others like you wish."

She didn't know what to say. He was so, so kind. "You don't need to look after me. But thank you."

"I insist. You are very precious to me."

"Can . . . can I ask why?"

He laughed lightly. "Where would I start if I began?"

 _Oh, what?_ Lillian gazed at him bewildered. All of a sudden, the bookshelf behind Aro began to swirl and she lost her balance as her vision unexpectedly blacked out. She regained consciousness only seconds later, Aro having swiftly caught her before she could have hit her head. _I fainted?_

"It appears you did." He set her back on her chair, and out of the blue a male vampire was by her side, holding a glass of water. She took it carefully, and slowly took a sip of the ice-cold water. She could feel Aro's eyes meticulously watching her every move in case she fell again.

She righted her dress after she put down the glass. It was another dress with two thin straps on the shoulders that hung to her knees, but a forest green instead of the first dress's violet. She had tried on other dresses, but she liked the softness and looseness of this style; it made her feel free.

"How do you feel now?"

"Much better." She turned to her left to thank the vampire who'd brought her water, but he was gone. "Who was that?"

"Afton," Aro answered. "Chelsea's mate."

"Does he have a super-power like you do?"

He chuckled. Her choice of word amused him. "In a way. If he so desired, one could not look directly at him nor anyone behind him, for he would appear invisible."

"That's cool." _Mind reading? Invisibility? These vampires can do everything. And I can do nothing like that._ Then she remembered something important. "What was is that you think I can do?"

His lips broke into a beaming smile. "You already have the inability to die. It is an _incredibly_ rare occurrence for a human to have any gift all, let alone one as powerful as yours! All gifts, however, are far more pronounced after an individual's transformation into an immortal. My friend Carlisle believes that our talents may stem from our most prominent human traits, but I disagree to an extent."

"What do you think?"

"I think that a particular talent develops in a vampire if it would have been useful during stressful or traumatic circumstances in their mortal lives."

That made sense, Lillian thought, _mine is certainly useful for what I've been through._ "I think that works," she said, trying to contribute to this one-sided conversation even though she had nothing she could add. "Do you think mine will change?"

Aro nodded very enthusiastically and leant towards her, his golden necklace bearing some sort of emblem glinting bright gold in the sunbeam it fell into, away from his collar. The sight of the sun on his skin was even more spellbinding. The first time she had seen a vampire in the sun, she'd been both confused and awestricken. On top of these vampires being so rich and powerful, even their skin was made of the purest, hardest diamonds. Looking at where the sun fell on Aro's cheek now, she had a peculiar urge to touch his face, and see if he really did turn into diamonds instead of ash.

"I think you will have a very powerful gift, much the same as the one you have now, but there is the possibility that you could temporarily pass on your immortality to others, or act as a shield."

 _What's a shield,_ she thought, _how would I use my gift to protect you when I can't even stop . . . things . . . happening to me?_ She asked him with her hand again, and she was pleasantly surprised when he took it and placed her palm upon his cheek and held it there. "A shield," he explained, "is a gift that can project to protect yourself and others. Our darling Renata has such a gift."

 _What can she do?_

"She is able to repel attackers from herself and others in close proximity. Once they come into contact with her shield – think of it as an invisible bubble around her – they find themselves travelling in an alternate direction with a confused memory as to why they were travelling towards her in the first place." Lillian hadn't yet met Renata, but her mind's eye conjured up an image of a girl similar to Chelsea and Heidi, with a soapy bubble around her and Aro. "Yes, like that."

"So I might be able to do that?" She tried to pull her hand away from him then, but he didn't seem to notice. Her soft skin stayed resting on his perfect, stony cheek. His thumb caressed the back of her hand, and his palm no longer touched her. _He's so strong that he can't even feel me pulling._ She didn't want to ask for her hand back though for fear of appearing rude, so she let him keep it. _Maybe I should say something about his skin? That's why he put my hand there, right?_

"Indeed. I think you may be able to prevent physical attacks in a similar way, or make yourself and perhaps others immune to injury."

She smiled. That was a lovely idea; but part of her considered he was only repeating a fantasy, or trying to reassure her of her worth. "Really?"

"Truly."

"When would I need it?"

Aro hesitated for a moment, then released her hand. He sat back in his chair and his mood adopted a more serious attitude. "There are some across this globe that mean us harm, and some that do not currently protest our peaceful existence have the potential to do so in the future. Though most, later rather than sooner. But we must always be prepared."

"But who would want to hurt you?" Lillian was shocked. Aro and his friends were so nice; she could not fathom why someone would even dislike him. And the Volturi were a force for good, or so she had gathered, and why would anyone be against that? If vampires didn't have this law that prevented humans knowing about vampires, people would be scared to leave their homes and vampires would enslave entire countries and there would probably be no technology or medicine either. Aro had also said that a large proportion of vampires had now been born since the Volturi officially came to power – which meant that a lot of them might not have even been born if the Volturi didn't exist and hadn't stopped all the mass murder and slavery that had happened. Why would they be unhappy with the people who made them and their families safer?

"A vampire's strongest desire aside from human blood is for power," he explained. "For one of two reasons: either they plan to do something with that power, such as vengeance or to govern, or for the pure enjoyment of ruling over their own jurisdiction. For me, it was of course the former. But for the majority of immortals it is the latter." Lillian was confused. So all vampires were selfish? That didn't seem right. "Thus there are those who would attempt to build armies to destroy us purely so they can create their own empire, lawless and cruel to all those within their borders – borders which only emerge as a result of another coven's empire rising beside them. We cannot have this happening, can we?"

"No," Lillian agreed. She couldn't imagine how horrible it must be to be a human living under evil vampires. Thinking that it was possible to feel pain worse than what she'd already felt before made her flinch sharply.

"There are a few covens that survive from the era when this was the norm," Aro continued. "The Egyptian coven and the Romanians are the most notable, though neither is currently a threat to our way of life, nor are they likely to ever be again."

"That's good," Lillian said, and folded her hands delicately in her lap. "But you said there were people who might want to hurt you?"

He stood up fluidly, and offered out his hand to her. She took it and rose. "Come," he said, and lead her to the white door at the end of the room. He walked slowly with her; Heidi had insisted on dressing Lillian in heels again, and she was still getting used to these brown ones. Aro took her down a corridor floored with wooden panelling framed with white walls, embellished with multiple hanging paintings and glazed windows until he stopped suddenly in front of a painting at the end of the hallway, well preserved in the shade. Lillian looked up at the painting curiously. What was special about this one? "Do you see the man with the golden hair?"

Her eyes scanned the figures in a garden, under a tree consumed by snakes, until she found the man. "I do."

"This is my dear friend, Carlisle."

"Your friend wants to hurt you?"

Aro looked horrified at that suggestion. "Oh no, indubitably not! Carlisle would never intend on harming any creature; he and his coven do not even feed on humans."

"How is that possible?" Lillian looked up at this man, dressed in early eighteenth-century Italian dress, and struggled to comprehend how a vampire didn't drink human blood. _He's a vampire, that's what vampires do._ She looked back to Aro for an explanation.

"The Cullens feed on animals, like deer, elk, bears and mountain lions. Occasionally wolves, though less so in recent years. Hence, their eyes bear a strange yellow colour as opposed to our red."

"It can't taste nice," Lillian wondered aloud.

Aro's eyes widened, intrigued. "Why do you say so?"

"Because they're vampires too. And vampires drink human blood. Animals aren't human. Humans, I, eat animals." She remembered the delicious steak she had eaten for lunch. "Your friend sounds silly. Is he pretending that he's still human?"

"I suppose he does, in a way. The coven act as more of a family than a coven, and Carlisle maintains a occupation as a doctor for humans and they do not love around as frequently as others. They do not harm humans, nor other vampires or immortal creatures. They abhor it." _A vampire, a doctor?_ Carlisle sounded like he was trying to prove something. "But, sweetling, they are no less dangerous than any other large coven. Conceivably, they are worse."

"Why, if they don't hurt anybody?"

"They are a large coven. There is presently nine of them, and there is another coven of five they consider close. Several of them also possess powerful gifts like you and I, and have used them against us in the past."

"They have?" Her soft voice was startled.

"There is one among them, Edward, who has a talent not dissimilar to mine. He can hear your present thoughts, but from a distance. Another is little Alice, who has the gift of foresight – she can see our futures, and she is always watching the decisions I make." Lillian shuddered. Did these Cullens not respect privacy? Some friend Carlisle was, if he let his family do those things to Aro. "Alice's mate Jasper can feel and control the emotions of a room full of people. Their most powerful member, however, is Bella. She is a shield, though it does not prevent physical assaults, it renders my gift, and the gifts of all the Guard, useless. Anyone who is under her shield can still use their gifts against us, yet they are unable to be affected by ours."

"Scary," she whispered.

"Then there is one more." Aro's jaw hardened briefly, then he cracked a small smile. "Young Renesmee."

"Renesmee?"

"Edward fell in love with and married Bella whilst she was still mortal. Renesmee is the product of their happy union – a daughter, half-mortal, half-immortal."

She wondered why Aro was smiling and describing them as happy. Didn't he dislike them? He was such an interesting person she could not understand. It looked like he wished them well, but if they were a threat to him and his family and had already proved to be one, why wasn't he doing anything about it and why did he sound like he was praising them and their worrying powers? "They had a half-vampire, half-human baby? Is that good?"

"As long as she can learn and keep to the law, yes. I saw her through my own eyes and through Edward's thoughts that she truly is a wonderful child, but we have to be _absolutely_ certain. We had not encountered a child of her kind before, and she rallies quite a few allies merely by existing. Her coven is already too large by safe standards – if a human knew too much, it would be easy for them to prove to other mortals and spread the word that the Cullens are not like them. That would force us to intervene. They also carry a higher chance of accidentally or intentionally killing or hunting within sight of humans due to their abnormal amount of interaction with their society." He sighed. "If they broke the law I could not let them off on the basis that Carlisle is my friend, that would be wrong and anger others. The Volturi do not give second chances."

"So because Renesmee is a cute kid lots of people would come to stop you from doing your job?"

"Precisely. Though it is highly unlikely that the Cullens will break the law, and if they do, they have already shown that they can contain the problem. Yet, as I mentioned, we have not seen a child of her kind before, we need absolute proof that she will not pose a threat to our kind or to humanity."

"So you're going to read her mind when she's grown up?" Lillian had no idea where he was going.

"There is no need for us to worry, my dear, I know enough from her father that she will be nothing but a charm." He wasn't making any sense. "But I am the only one who can know this for certain."

"Oh. I understand." Aro nodded once and gave her a delighted grin and placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her back into the library. "So what are you going to do?"

"What do you think I should do, my love?" He replied softly, as they took their earlier seats a few moments later.

"I don't know."

He gently squeezed her hand. "Think about it." He tilted his head to the side, curious. Lillian had noticed how much he did that, and she found it strangely cute. She stifled a giggle, laughing at herself for thinking that a _vampire_ was cute. "That's not something I'm often called," Aro chuckled.

"No?"

"Never."

She paused for a moment, distracted briefly by a small bird landing on the windowsill outside. "Do you want to be?"

He laughed. "I am a monster, a creature of the dark, one that preys on innocent mortals such as yourself for a meal. I am anything but!"

Lillian laughed too. _You're not changing my mind._

"Perhaps not," he smirked. It was a knowing smirk, like the one he'd worn days before in the garden. He knew something she didn't, but she only assumed it was because he was listening to her thoughts. "If there was something you needed to know, be sure of mind that I would tell you."

"I know. Thank you."

"So," his smirk turned mischievous as he prompted her for ideas. "What _should_ I do?"

She thought for a moment. What would he need to prove that Renesmee is safe? _What about Renesmee herself?_ She frowned. _You'd need a child like her. To show people._

"An _intriguing_ idea, Lillian. That would work very well. But there is a problem with that."

 _What's that?_

"Bella is the only mother to have ever survived carrying such a child, and it was not without her very-near death. The foetus was too strong and fast growing for her body. If any vampire was looking for a mother for his child, he would need a very special woman indeed."

"Like what?" She was interested. _What kind of lady could have a baby too strong for her when this powerful Bella couldn't?_ She couldn't picture it.

"Like who?"

 _Who?_

He raised his dark eyebrows. Lillian was confused. _Who could have a kid that would kill them? She'd need to be really strong, and very good at surviving things. Like me._ Her eyes widened in shock. _Like me? No, that's ridiculous._ She had the image in her mind's eye of a strong, muscular woman with bones of steel, not a small, thin teenager who got lucky with walking a near marathon one day. _Who, then?_ She asked.

Aro didn't reply, but kept his composure.

 _Me? You want . . . me? Me . . . have a vampire baby?_ It was totally nonsensical. Then she remembered something very important that Aro had said the other day when they were in the throne room with the giant paintings for walls. ' _. . .we happened upon a type of case we had not judged afore. I believe_ your _particular_ gifts _can help us reach a final conclusion.'_ Is this what he'd had in mind all along? She thought she should be shocked at such a thing – a thing he had not yet confirmed nor denied – but the thought made her feel warm. And _yes,_ she agreed, _I guess that I was wrong thinking I probably couldn't do what you were going to ask me. I was thinking about something like using my shield or whatever it was. But I think I could maybe have a baby._ A baby. _Oh. Help. I have no idea how to do that either._ She looked into Aro's eyes. _Am I right?_

"You most certainly are, my sweetheart. I could not _possibly_ fathom another woman doing us this great favour. You will be doing us _all_ a great kindness, Lillian, if you would like." He spoke quickly, excitedly, as if he had been trying and almost failing to hold back his enthusiasm for too long. He took his hand from hers to let her think alone.

 _I guess I would be,_ she pondered. _I could prove that Renesmee is nothing but a cute child and the Cullens get their happy family life however weird they are, and Aro doesn't have to kill his friend, and we both get a baby. A baby._ The word bounced around her skull like a confused wasp. _I never thought I would be able to have a baby. And definitely not so soon. I'm only seventeen. But there are people who have kids at seventeen, right? True,_ she comforted herself, _there are._ Another thing she considered brought a cosy warm feeling to her gut. She imagined holding a new-born baby in her arms, a human one, for she could not picture what a vampire-human child would look like, and saw how its wide eyes gazed up at her face in love and wonder. Her baby would love her, and she would love it, and it would give her more than a purpose in her life. She would have someone she could be there for, and who would be there for her.

But with Aro? A vampire? Who was married to _another vampire?_ What would she think about this? But it dawned on her that Aro had probably already discussed this with her, and obviously she had agreed. She bit her lip hard as she deliberated, and her right hand gripped the smooth chair arm hard. _He is . . . kind of perfect, though._ That was true. There wasn't a single thing about Aro she had taken a dislike to yet. He was handsome, gracious, caring, strong, intelligent, powerful . . . stable . . . protecting.

 _But if I died?_ She didn't think that mattered much. She'd resigned herself to death years ago. That prospect wasn't going to affect her decision much, but her next thought would – _Aro would be pleased with me._ This is what he thought she was going to be good at, and if she managed to do it – if she lived – he would be so happy with her, and he would turn her into a vampire and she could use her superpower whatever it was to be by his side and protect him for . . . forever. Happiness smiled on her lips, and sparkled in her eyes.

Aro's deep, whispery voice interrupted the silence. "Do you accept?"

For the first time in her short life, she felt as if she had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

"Okay. Yes."


	5. Chapter 5 - Tension

**_One month later_**

 _The grey walls oozed stale rainwater, the howling wind outside clawed at the tiny basement window, Lillian's only source of light. She curled up, terrified on the soiled mattress, her chains digging into her emaciated rib cage, but she didn't care. Pain was the one thing she knew, the one constant in her life, so she clung to it. The musty air of the damp subterranean room clogged her airway, and the irregular sharp breeze from the window gave her a blessed breath of fresh air – as a severe chill shook her naked body._

 _Suddenly there were blows being dealt to her body. She could feel them, the pain, the thuds and the smacks of the wooden boards hitting her, but, eyes closed, she distanced herself from her body. She no longer cared for the searing bouts of pain that struck her every few days. She no longer cared who did it. She no longer cared that she was dying._

 _Nevertheless, it was torture. No matter how hard she managed to block it out it always came back to haunt her. It was never-ending, heart-breaking, gruesome. She cried herself to sleep every night – if she could sleep. Her eyes were swollen uncomfortably shut; she could barely make out her broken hand in front of her face. She learnt, after that, to never put her hands up, to never defend herself. It would only make her suffering more. From time to time she would have a silly intrusive thought, telling her that one day this would be over, that could escape, and she would meet people who cared for her and loved her and she would be happy. But happy wasn't a word she knew the true meaning of, for the feeling of it had never been hers to feel._

* * *

Lillian stared at her reflection in the mirror, inspecting the small, finger-sized purple shapes on her arms, chest and waist. She curiously poked one on her right bicep, and flinched a little when it hurt. She looked up and was suddenly blinded by the bright yellow lights of this modern bathroom. The sandy marble of the walls, floor and sink shimmered under the rows on lights inset in the ceiling. She sighed, disbelieving, then wandered over to the deep jacuzzi bath and turned on the silver taps. To her delight, they were silent and twisted smoothly. The water gushed into the basin, its sound oddly soothing.

She skipped lightly back to the sink and lent in front of the mirror, taking a dry white flannel and drying her eyes. _It was only a dream,_ she comforted herself. _It wasn't real._ She wasn't upset about the bruises – these ones were much smaller than the ones she used to get, and they were not done deliberately, to hurt her. In fact, she had been blissfully unaware of any pain for the whole night. _Or at least not while I was awake . . ._

She smiled. She was even a tad proud of them. _I_ can _survive, I_ can _do this._ The beaming woman staring at her was almost unrecognisable. Her cheeks were no longer hollow, her hair had a healthy shine, and her body even had visible muscles and the beginnings of healthy curves. Her breasts were much bigger too, and she took them both in her hands and squished them in delight, and laughed, her voice happy and energetic, like morning birdsong. She looked beautiful, like a normal woman.

She flipped her hair forward over her head and tied it in a bun on her crown and spun joyfully back to the bath. Like the floor and walls, it too consisted of pretty, sandy marble, smooth to her soft fingers as she caressed the rim, not quite believing her surroundings. She revelled in her moment of shallowness as she climbed into the bath, letting the bubbly streams of water envelope her body. _I never would've thought I would be living in a castle with the most powerful people in the world, with anything I never even thought I wanted, being wanted myself . . . and I'm not getting this for nothing. I deserve it._ That was a funny thought to consider. _I've worked for it. Well, working._ She looked down at her lower abdomen under the crystal water and touched the skin briefly with her hand. _If you could call having a baby working._

She laughed aloud once, sharply. She had been so terrified last night, but she needn't have been. Aro was right; she was not just a survivor, but a fighter, a protector. _Or at least I'll try to be._ It was frightening to be so close to somebody, so vulnerable – _but as if clothes would have protected me from a vampire anyway –_ but she had swallowed her fear, and as nervous and as sick with anxiety she had been, she didn't let it control her. It took all her energy to do so, to let him see more of her than just her thoughts. But those fears had evaporated very soon after they came – sooner, faster, than any other of her fears had fled before. The reason for that was obvious, and she smirked guiltily. If there was one thing her young mind had grasped overnight, it was that she was _definitely_ going to enjoy her job.

She hadn't considered the rest of it yet – how painful it might be to carry a child that could certainly kill her; a child that could _definitely_ kill her while she gave birth. Her mind had already begun to filter out painful memories to replace with the happy ones she was making now, and unfortunately the distressing images Aro's warning of what had happened to Bella Cullen had conjured meant that this warning too, had been pushed to the back of her mind. In that moment in the bath, she could not pluck from her memory the gently-given warning about broken bones and starvation, nor the fact that Bella had even been close to dying. It should have been a good thing that her subconscious was making room for the happier life ahead of her, but Aro had told her all about Renesmee and her mother, but Lillian was confident that she would survive. Aro had made it sound like it had been easy for Edward to save her, and if Edward had managed to turn Bella with no prior knowledge of how to do so, with Bella being entirely mortal – then Aro would undoubtedly be able to make sure Lillian would join him. She _only_ remembered that positive.

Lillian was so overwhelmed by positive thoughts for the first time in her short life, and there was no way that she was going to let that go. She decided that not one single negative thought was going to enter her head.

The door clicked open suddenly, and a female vampire flitted to Lillian's side. She looked up, startled, but it was only Chelsea. "Good morning," Lillian greeted her friend. "I'm in the bath." She raised her palms, as if to say, _'can't you see,_ I'm in the bath'.

Chelsea smirked. "I know," and pulled out a small cardboard box out from behind her back.

"What's that?"

"Wait for me to tell you," she chided. "You don't want to get to a point where you're too eager for everything."

"Too eager?" Anxiety twisted her insides. Lillian had no idea how she appeared on the outside, but the constant worrying and yearning for a better life still consumed her thoughts. The happiness was only ever brief, and Chelsea had just sent it running for shelter.

Chelsea ignored the question. "It's a gift –" she raised a finger on her free hand to stop Lillian before she spoke as the girl had opened her mouth and was kneeling on the seat inside the bath, about to ask if it was from Aro. "Yes."

Lillian's eyes widened happily, and she took the box and placed it gingerly on the side of the bath. She sank back into the tub, and eyed the gift inquisitively, like a cat, pawing at a new toy. It was different to the other things he'd given her – jewels, dresses, shoes, money to spend on the one day she was let out into the town to look around, necklaces and bracelets . . . all of which had been presented in glittering, bejewelled boxes that could have been elaborate presents themselves. Another thing – why was he sending Chelsea to give it to her instead of giving her it himself or leaving it on the bedside dressing table like he usually did?

"Aren't you going to open it?" Chelsea asked, watching Lillian's curious kitten eyes inquisitively.

"Hmm. What?" She jumped a little. "Oh. Yes."

"I'll see you later, enjoy." She was by the sliding white door in an instant, and grinned as she pirouetted through the doorway.

The door slid shut, and Lillian was alone again. She relaxed. She felt much more at ease when she was alone. She slid her thumbnail under the lid and prised it open. A delicate floral scent wafted out of the box, and a plethora of colours appeared as she opened it fully. What was it? She picked up the strange spherical fragranced thing, and frowned at it. Pinks and blues and yellows swirled around, and she gasped as some suddenly fell off as powder. The water turned pink where it fell. _Oh!_ _What if I do this . . ._ She carefully held the ball to the water, unsure if what she was doing would ruin the present or not, but gasped again with pleasant surprise as it unexpectedly started fizzing and filling the bath with the colourful swirls that adorned it. _It's a soap! That's why I got it now!_ Astonishingly, a bomb of glitter burst in the centre, showering Lillian's submerged body in silver sparkles, and she giggled with joy as she took it in handfuls and massaged it into the skin on her arms, neck and chest, before taking a deep breath and dunking her head underwater.

But in her childish delight, she did not forget the most important gift for which she was most thankful: the day she met Aro.

* * *

"How do you feel this bright morning, la mia cara?" Aro said happily, as he darted to Lillian's side. She grinned and gave him her hand, which sparked in the soft sunlight radiating warmly through a slit in the side of the tower. "It seems you're on your way to looking like us already!"

They both laughed, and she embraced him with her free hand. She was almost certain that she loved him. He'd even had her brought her to favourite room. She adored this bare, stone tower with the wooden thrones and high ceiling. But most of all, Lillian liked this room because it was where the Volturi fed. She pulled herself tighter to Aro's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her too, and rested his chin on her head. He would protect her if anyone tried to hurt her again. If any _human_ tried to hurt her. It had only ever been humans. Never had a vampire even said a cruel word.

His cold fingers traced the bruises on her shoulders from memory, while the palm of his other hand maintained contact with her upper right arm. She flinched a couple times, but didn't move away. "Did I hurt you?"

A jealous hiss erupted from behind her. She turned her head a small bit to the left and spied little Jane in the corner of her eye. Jane and Alec were twins, clearly two of Aro's favourites. Lillian had gathered that Jane was _very_ possessive of her master, and was constantly hungry for his attention, even when his attention was on a member of her own family. Aro had taken the three of them to one side a week ago and explained to them that he thought it was very likely they were relatives. Lillian was extremely pleased to find family like her, especially the exact people from the family myth, and they got on so far. Yet she couldn't help but resent the twins, for if they had not had their powers during a time when humans were particularly superstitious, then Lillian would never have been tortured her whole life for hers. She sighed gently, and nestled her head into Aro's hair.

"Don't be silly," she said aloud. Then abruptly she was nervous. She pulled away to look at his face. "You're not doubting me, are you?" Her voice came out much more confident than she expected. She sounded as if she were poking light fun.

Aro shook his head, pretending to look aghast. "Of course not!" He took her chin with his finger and kissed her enthusiastically on her smooth lips.

"You like that human too much, Aro," a familiar bitter voice spat from behind her. She turned around and faced Caius, who was scowling down his nose at her as he made his way into the room. Why was he always so angry at everything? Marcus followed a few feet behind, uninterested, and glided over to his throne at the back of the room.

Without thinking, Lillian scowled back at Caius. "Someone's a little jealous," she retorted.

The room fell silent. _Shit. What did I just do?_ All eyes were on her, stabbing at her being like darts. She was abruptly terribly fearful. The last thing she wanted to do was upset her new family. The silence that had followed her social faux pas was deafening.

A whispery but loud laugh broke from Aro's throat. She jumped and looked up at him wearily. He was ginning, for some reason.

"Of all the humans you could have chosen, you _had_ to pick the insolent child? It's even worse that she will be bringing _another_ little brat into our home. It's a reckless idea Aro. Rumours will spread that the Volturi have weakened; that we cannot obey our own laws and treat mortals like _equals_." He spat the last word, and Lillian cringed into Aro, who wrapped her under part of his cloak. "Not to mention that the brat will mature to be like its mother, no doubt."

Aro seemed bemused. "Well, brother, I would be very worried if it did not."

Lillian bit her lower lip, trying to stifle a giggle but failing to contain a grin. "You're a vampire," she chuckled to herself very quietly, "but you're afraid of babies?" She knew she shouldn't laugh, that she was digging herself an even deeper hole, but she burst out into a breathless fit of laughter. "Ha ha, ha ha!" She hooted. She grabbed onto Aro's arm to stop from falling. "I'm so sorry," she giggled.

Aro stroked her cheek in a downward motion, his touch harder than usual, and she took that as her cue to be quiet. It was hard – she had to take several deep breaths and stifle more laughter.

"Dear brother," Aro addressed Caius, who was now fuming, particularly at Aro's apparent defence of Lillian, "we have already established that the hybrid children are no threat and can be controlled. I've told you before; I have seen the proof in Edward and Renesmee's thoughts, and Nahuel's lifestyle. However, as with each ruling we make, we need supporting evidence. _That_ is the sole purpose of Lillian's humanity, and the child she will bear."

"I know that Aro."

Lillian _did not_ like Caius's tone. How could he speak to Aro like that? His friend, and colleague? Was he deliberately trying to undermine him? She wasn't as much afraid of him now as she'd been when they'd first met, but more narked by his presence. She was very defensive of Aro, and she would defend him against anyone, as he would protect her. She spun away from Aro to face Caius. "Are you doubting Aro's ability to raise and control something that's only _half_ vampire? That's absolutely ridiculous! I know that I'm going to be bringing a child here, but now I'm unsure that we don't already have one."

Suddenly she was flying several feet in the air and Aro and Sulpicia were holding Caius. Her chest felt heavy where Aro had shoved her away. Aro had a very firm grip on Caius's arm with one hand – clearly, he was not trying to read his mind, but stop him moving, from attacking Lillian. Sulpicia was by Aro's side, her hand in her husband's.

Less than a second had passed.

Lillian shrieked as she began to fall towards the stone floor, but Felix caught her. He was the vampire she'd noticed standing by the door in the room with the paintings for walls when she'd first arrived. She hadn't had much of a chance to talk to him, but so far, their brief conversations had been pleasant. "Thank you," she gasped as he set her on her feet, and she brushed a tangled lock of hair behind her ear.

Their eyes held contact for a brief moment, before their attention was caught and yanked back to the ancients, locked in heated argument. Lillian looked around the room for Chelsea and Corin, knowing of their abilities that could prevent this argument, but they were stock still, as motionless and everyone else. She was on the other side of the tower now, but could hear well what the vampires were saying by the door.

A shrill snarl shot out of Sulpicia suddenly, and Lillian jumped. "No!" Sulpicia hissed. "If you hurt that child, you hurt me. It's _mine,_ you hear me?"

 _Hers?_ Sulpicia _was_ Aro's wife, and a vampire and much higher ranking than Lillian could ever hope to be, but the statement roused a slight twinge of fury. _It's_ my _baby. It's half me and I am carrying it, I am going to give birth to it. It's mine._ The perfect image of her baby in her arms came back to her and she gazed into its big blue eyes, and suddenly all her anger evaporated. It _was_ just a baby. A half-vampire baby, too – it would know who its mother was really. Sulpicia could never claim it. Besides – wasn't it better for her and her child if Sulpicia did see herself as a parent? She would have the most powerful couple on Earth protecting and caring for her baby. How could that not be a good thing?

"That _thing_ ," Caius argued back, "is not a child, sister, it's an abomination. With very gifted parents, we cannot know that it will be safe, or that it will not turn against us in time. It must be destroyed before it is born!"

"No," Aro snarled. This seemed to surprise the all the vampires in the room. Apparently Aro did not get angry often. "We will act _the same_ as we did with the Immortal Children – we will keep the child here, under our close observation, and determine if it shall be allowed to exist. A ruling _we have already made._ " He gestured to Lillian. "She is only helping us provide the evidence, and is yet to even conceive it." _Yet to? How long does it take?_ He took a step back, now sure that Caius was not going to attempt to attack Lillian. A few of the vampires Lillian knew to be Aro's closest bodyguards took several strides in his direction, including Felix. " _In_ _addition_ – I _personally_ want this child, and no matter what you think of it, you have already been overruled, brother, and Lillian is unable to be killed. She _will_ have my child, and she _will_ join us. Nothing you say or do can prevent that."

"Agreed." Sulpicia chimed in.

"I do not wish for us to argue, truly. I do understand that this is a very sensitive matter, and Lillian was perhaps wrong to provoke you, but she is only a young human. She did not mean to offend." He turned to her, and she took a small step forward. "Did you, sweetheart?"

"No, Aro, I did not."

He turned back to Caius, who seemed no-less furious than he had been a minute ago. It was as if Lillian had not spoken. "See?" He put on a smile.

"Besides," Sulpicia said, "you'll probably like the child. If not, they won't be an infant for long." She also smiled, a mirror of her husband, and placed a hand friendlily on Caius's upper arm. "You needn't stress my dear friend." She flicked a lock of long black hair over her shoulder, and suddenly darted to Lillian's side. Caius left Aro by the door to sit in his throne by the back of the room. He wasn't going to let this go. Corin flitted to his side.

"Aro?" Sulpicia called.

"Yes, my dearest love?"

Sulpicia put her arm around Lillian's waist. "I'm going to steal Lillian today, if you don't mind. She _is_ to be mother to our child after all." Her smile was sweet, and comforting, and Lillian was immediately entranced. Maybe her claim to the baby wasn't a bad thing in the end. She seemed a lovely person, as well as being the woman Aro trusted the most, and _I am only seventeen, and I am bound to need help raising it._ She absent-mindedly placed her hand on her belly.

Aro was with them in an instant, and took Lillian's hand. "Yes, of course. I am sure you will be _great_ friends," he sang, and placed his hands together under his chin. The expression on his face was one of pleasant contentment, but his thirsty garnet eyes showed a mysterious one of love, and of longing.


	6. Chapter 6 - Violation

Felix winked.

Lillian scowled. "Stop that."

Felix smirked, and said nothing.

Lillian picked up her book again, and propped herself up on the bed with one elbow. Though she was looking at the page, she wasn't reading the words. The beautiful English sonnets skipped around the pages, running from her gaze, their letters and their meanings escaping her. "If Aro catches you doing that, you're a dead man."

He raised his thick eyebrows, and grinned, calling her bluff.

"Don't be stupid, Felix," Lillian sighed, looking up from the page, "everybody knows you only wink at people you're looking forward to killing. And while my life may mean nothing, it goes without saying that this one is worth much more than yours." She placed her hand on her belly, and gently rubbed the large baby bump. The pale skin rose and fell by her navel as the baby registered her touch and reached out to its mother. Lillian gasped and grimaced in moderate pain as it did. "Please don't do that baby," she said as soothingly as possible, "I know you love me but that hurts. You'll have plenty of time to stretch in a few days." The foetus grew still. "Thank you."

"It understands you?"

"I think so." She gave up with the book and put it down on the red Egyptian cotton blanket, and carefully swung her legs off the side of the bed. Felix flitted over to her and held out a stone hand to help her up. "Thanks." She took in a deep breath, breathing in the fresh woodland scent of an aromatic candle burning brightly on the mahogany table by the bed. Since the day she had discovered she was pregnant, three weeks ago, Aro had moved her into one of his own rooms. She could never have imagined how luxurious it would be and had tried to refuse, but she couldn't deny that the comfy bed and soft, clean furnishings were better for her in her condition. "Aro told me that Edward could hear his daughter's thoughts before she was born and that she was responding to things he and his wife said. His child would probably be the same."

"So if I told it while you were sleeping to kick you, it would wake you?" Felix grinned mischievously.

She scowled, and his him lightly. "I think that if mummy is sleeping, she wouldn't. She loves me."

"You're so sure?"

"I'm her mother, how can she not?"

"It's a girl?"

"I think so," she replied, remembering what Aro said about only one of the known hybrid children being male. "Probably."

Lillian stretched, extending her arms high above her head and yawning. Her silk nightgown rose with the movement, and Felix jokily grabbed her behind with a deep laugh.

Lillian half shut her eyes, her irises sliding to the right to glare at him, in mock irritation.

Felix winked.

She rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "What is wrong with you?" she asked rhetorically.

"What is wrong with you," he replied, "human-who-doesn't-die?"

"Everything, if I can maintain a conversation with _you,_ Felix." She sat back down on the bed, and lay backwards gently and carefully, the soft fabric feeling like physical heaven on her bare skin, the cushioning like the supportive film under the foot of a pond skater, as it softly skits across a calm lake. A breeze swished around the room, the air cool yet equally comforting, from a gold-plated vent above the bed, the end of a small vertical passage in the old stone of the fortress to one of the rooms aboveground. Lillian closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations.

"Ha ha, ouch."

"Shut up, I'm tired." Lillian was suddenly madly irritated by Felix, by his snapping her out of her bliss.

"Never."

"I hate you."

He chuckled. She could picture the smile upon his handsome, vampire face, and if she had not been so heavily pregnant – and mortal – she would have jumped up in a flash and punched him. She laughed to herself quietly. She would never have thought to do such a thing two months ago, when she was small and timid and worthless. Now that she felt like she meant something, she felt like was almost more than huamn, that she could do anything, that she was _someone._ But most importantly – she felt wanted. Wanted by people who shouldn't even want her at all. _I'm better than other humans,_ she thought, _they're nothing compared to me._ She thought of her mother and mother's boyfriend. _If they could only see me now . . ._

 _If they could see you now they'd call you a slut and a whore and tell you you're deserving of the death you're obviously going to get. You're so stupid Lillian. You're just a human. Aro's lying to you. Why do you think he's successful? He manipulates people, he's a monster. He kills people like you on a weekly basis._

 _No,_ she fought back, _it's not true. If he didn't care whether the mother of his child lived or died he would have chosen any human. Someone else, way before he met me. He would've just killed me the day we met if he thought I was nothing._

 _You do that,_ the voice taunted, _you delude yourself like that. Kid yourself some more, child. He'll never turn you. A vampire who couldn't die would be a threat to his rule. He's told you about what he's done to other people already. Who's to say he won't do the same to you?_

 _You're wrong. You're so wrong. He_ loves _me. I'm having his baby!_ Tears escaped Lillian's eyes as her distressed manifested physically. _Go away,_ she cried internally, _can't there be a day when you leave me alone? Just one day, please!_ More tears escaped her shut eyes and she had to open them and blink many times in desperate attempt to stop crying but it just did not work and the sobs shook her body violently, fear stabbing her as she thought about how this could be hurting the baby.

She shut her eyes tight and prayed that the tears would stop, covering her face with her palms.

Something cold and hard touched her hands suddenly and she jerked, but relaxed when she realised it was just Felix. He gently pulled her hands away from her face and soothingly wiped away her tears. "I heard that carrying a child makes humans go crazy, but you, Lillian, are insane."

She couldn't help it. She laughed. A loud, unexpected guffaw that surprised them both.

"Definitely insane."

She focussed her sight, and saw him sat on the bed beside her, half-grinning. "I hate you."

"Why were you crying?"

"Stupid human things. Why do you care?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Well, you mean a lot to Aro for a start. It's part of my job to look after you."

"You mean my child."

"No, if you weren't taken care of then how would the child be?"

"Why isn't it Heidi and Chelsea's job?" Lillian knew she was being stubborn but she knew she had a point, and she needed to have an answer that would settle the concerns that nasty, intrusive voice had.

He snorted. "It _is_ their job. It's all of ours. I just happen to be here right now. Everyone else is also doing a lot to cater to you. Heidi and Chelsea aren't here right now, because they're in Florence, buying things for the baby while the bad weather persists."

"Really?" _Ha, see? They_ do _care about me. All of them._

"Obviously. I don't lie."

 _No,_ that _was a lie._

 _No, it wasn't. Why would he feel the need to lie to a human? Ugh._ "Fuck off."

"What?"

"Not you."

He chuckled. "Who, then?"

"Nothing important." There was no way she was going to tell him about those stupid, doubtful thoughts. A vampire couldn't understand or care about them. Besides, she would be a vampire too soon, and wouldn't struggle with them anymore. She heard that the transformation was akin to being burnt alive, and she hoped dearly that it would be the same for her, so that it could burn away all the horrible memories and thoughts that still plagued her weeks after her ordeal had ended. It would be the pain to end all pain. The purgatory that she was willing to suffer before being admitted to heaven.

* * *

"How do you feel today, my love?"

"Tired," Lillian sighed honestly. "But happy. I can't wait to meet our baby."

Aro giggled gleefully, and clasped his hands together under his chin excitedly, as he always did when he had a thousand thoughts ready to fall off his tongue. She remembered one of the intrusive thoughts from yesterday. Was his joyful personality really all just an act? He couldn't possibly be lying about being thrilled to become a father, could he?

They sat in the tower, Aro upon his wooden throne in the centre of the wall at the back of the room, his long black cloak draped over his shoulders, and all the way to the floor. Lillian and her bulging belly sat on his lap, on a soft and probably expensive red cushion. She was ahppier today compared to other days - she had the whole day this time to spend with Aro.

"Neither can I, Lillian. I find it so fascinating, that someone as old, and as undeserving, as me, can still become a father, more so to a child with to _wonderous_ potential." He sighed softly, so quiet that Lillian almost didn't hear him. He placed a stony hand on her belly, and his eyes widened in wonder – and Lillian's in discomfort – as the baby responded by nudging him.

"Why would you say undeserving?" She said sweetly, and affectionately kissed his cheek. "It wouldn't matter anyway. Even if you were a bad person you'd still deserve a child's love. Everyone does. And you are her father, she will love you no matter what."

His recently-fed red eyes looked sympathetically into hers, as if he were pitying her. She didn't understand if he really was, or she was just imagining it. "Sweet Lillian, you warm my dead heart."

"Your heart isn't dead, it's just frozen."

He licked his lips slowly. "Stubborn, today, I see."

"You can tell me to do anything and I will do it, _except_ believe that because you're a vampire you're a monster by personality automatically." She injected more aggressiveness into her tone deliberately. "I am going to love you whether you like it or not."

He laughed. "Where would I be without you? You are such a comfort to me, my love."

She knew it was a rhetorical question, but Lillian couldn't hold her tongue. "You would be perfectly fine without me," she smiled, "you don't need a silly naïve human."

He raised his thick black eyebrows. "Silly and naïve?" He took her hand in his tightly. "Sweetling, you do not understand exactly how _far_ from those things you are. You know and understand much more than you believe."

"Thank you." _I wish I knew what thoughts he was talking about. I want to know if my doubts are right or not._ She froze. _Did I really just think that?_ She was horrified by her own suggestion. There was not a chance in hell that Aro could be lying to her or just using her, not with the way he was acting and the words he was saying. She shuddered, but it wasn't the cold of the room that sent the chill down her spine. She'd had an intrusive, horrid thought while he was listening to her thoughts. She apologised, over and over and over again, and he said nothing until she had stopped.

"I've heard all of those thoughts, Lillian," he said finally, solemnly. "I understand they are not your true thoughts." He kissed her hand. "There is no need to be ashamed or afraid."

 _I do not deserve you._

"That makes two of us."

They chuckled together, humourlessly. Perhaps he had some sort of internal struggle too that he wasn't letting on? Lillian was immediately concerned; he was her dearest and closest friend in all the world – no, he was more than that; he was the world.

She lay her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He smelt wonderful, and she calmed down completely quickly. His left arm was wrapped around her, and his hand soothingly, softly, rubbed her side, as her bare pale legs wrapped around his. She was safe with him, protected.

* * *

She must have fallen asleep on his lap, for when she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was the dark, rectangular shapes of the stones composing the tower walls, and Aro's pitch black hair covering her right eye. She saw his chin move as he turned his head in recognition of her awakening, and she stretched her neck to kiss him, when suddenly pain shot through her abdomen like wildfire across a dry grass plain.

Before she could even gasp, she was on the floor and Aro was at the wall, his back to it, and eyes closed. _What?_

The she realised.

All the other vampires in the room had left, and across Aro's face darted an expression of intense pain for a brief second before he could compose himself. What could possibly pain a vampire?

She looked around.

Strange, her legs felt wet.

She put her hands on the ground, trying to push herself up to stand but gasped in pain again and fell to the floor hard on her back.

Blood.

She screamed.

Her hands were covered in it. Hot, thick, dark red blood pooled around her, filling and flowing through the cracks between the stones, further around the tower, dripping down the grate in the middle of the room.

Heartbreak shattered her as she realised what was happening. She couldn't even cry. The shock, the pain, the . . . why?


	7. Chapter 7 - Frustration

Lillian sat mournfully in the large white chair. Its back and armrests were big and soft, and the cushion neither hard nor too spongy. She knew Aro put her there to make her feel warmer while she grieved, but the emotional pain was so much that the physical comforts were barely felt. She had felt sick when she took a bit of rich Belgian chocolate Chelsea offered her, and she bit her lip so hard that it bled and bled and bled and never healed again. The blood kept all of her friends away, but it wasn't as if she wanted to be around people. Her bloodshot blue eyes stared glumly down at her pointed elbow stabbing the chair arm, seeing nothing. She had thought she had become stronger, able to overcome any obstacle, but she had not been able to foresee what would happen to her. Now, she felt like she couldn't hold on any more. She was barely holding on. It took every ounce of strength that was still left in her to refrain from letting go, and relapsing into the hopeless little soul she had been when she had arrived in Volterra.

She brought her knees up to her chest and began to sob again. There were no tears, but her body shuddered with the sobs and she wailed. The one thing that had made her life worth living. The one thing that had brought her a loving family. The one thing that would have always love her unconditionally. Her baby. Her baby was gone. The perfect image of the infant in her arms forced itself back into her mind, only to be ripped ferociously away from her, in a sick imitation of her ordeal.

A miscarriage. _Of course._ If she could not die and the hybrid children always killed their mothers, maybe her body expelled it for hurting her. _But she wasn't hurting me._ moreover, perhaps the baby had died because it did not get enough nutrients from its mother, whose body had been withholding enough to keep itself alive. _I killed my baby. If my body was not so selfish she would be alive. She would be in my arms right now and I could hug her and love her and kiss her and Aro would be so happy with me and everyone else would be too and I would get turned into a vampire and I could have my cliché little happily-ever-after._

She sucked in a deep breath and the mournful scent of lilies smothered her lungs. She coughed, a sudden sob halfway through choking her. She coughed more and more until tears ran down her face and her limbs were shaking. Helplessly, she slid onto the floor by the chair. A comfy cream carpet felt no cosier than a vice's grip on every part of her body that touched the floor. The sun peered in through a gap in the pale curtains and reflected dazzlingly off the glass coffee table onto a pristine white wall. White, white, white. So much white. What was wrong with Aro? Why had he put her in this room? It reminded her simultaneously of a hospital and a prison. _I am not a mad patient that needs treating. Damn you Aro._ She hadn't seen him for a week. Not since he'd pushed her away onto the cold stone floor of the tower to keep from drinking her blood, tempted by the fresh, delicious, warm red that was dripping all over his legs, onto the floor. Did he resent her for testing his self-control? Did he hate her, or no longer see a use in her as she clearly could not do the one simple thing he asked of her? Did he never want to see her again?

She would sell her soul just to see his face. She would break her bones to heal his pain. Why wouldn't he stay with her, when she needed him most?

* * *

"Lillian, hey," a soft voice murmured in her ear as she woke. She drearily opened her eyes to fuzzy vision. Her limbs and back felt disgustingly sticky and the sheet clung to her tired body like a feather to honey. Her eyes focussed somewhat more and she could make out the shape of a vampire standing over her. She was sure they were a vampire because there were fuzzy red circles where their eyes should be. "Good morning," they soothed, "you're safe." Lillian smelt the sickeningly delicious smell of a full English breakfast, and felt as if she were about to vomit. She felt a cold, hard hand rub her shoulder gently; calming, reassuring, _manipulating_.

"Aro." Lillian was speechless, her tongue frozen, yet at the same time it had a thousand words ready to roll off the tip. _Where were you? Why are you here? Why now?_

She blinked a few times, and his perfect, yet ancient, face came into perspective. "How do you feel today?"

"Like I'm about to be sick," she replied bluntly. Then she remembered what he was referring to. "Actually, like I'm about to die, now that you've reminded me."

He tilted his head to the side, curious. "That was rather harsh, my love."

 _My love._

The words she'd been holding back flowed free like a waterfall. "I'm not your love. You only say that when you want me to do something for you." She scowled. "You want to know what is _really_ harsh? Being left alone for over a week in solitary confinement like some prisoner or . . . infectious zombie reverse-medusa who would turn you back from the stone you are to a being that can actually feel emotion, so that you don't have to suffer with me and feel like you actually have a heart for once. Because you don't. you don't care about me at all. You lied. If I meant anything to me you would have personally been taking care of me. But no." she shot up abruptly and crossed her arms. Her eyes bore right into his.

 _Nice to see you still have some of that feistiness in you,_ the voice quipped smugly.

Aro looked more pensive than hurt, but his eyes betrayed his . . . sadness? No, it was dismay. "You need time," he said finally. "I thought you would want to be alone."

"I lost a child, Aro. I _lost_ her. And then you took you away from me too. The _father_ of my baby. You should have been grieving right beside me!"

"We immortals deal with grief in a much different way to humans."

"I can see that," she muttered snarkily under her breath.

Aro lightly pushed a pale lock of hair behind her ear, letting his icy fingers trail down her neck in a straight line to the edge of her shoulder, where he slowly kissed. "I have not lost faith in you Lillian."

"You're more concerned about getting me healthy enough to try again than you are getting me healthy and happy again so I am healthy and happy again?" She frowned. "Sex is literally the last thing I want right now. Or for the foreseeable future."

"Sweetling I did not mean now; I was not even hinting at the subject."

She raised her eyebrows, mildly angry now. "Oh, really?" She'd never felt more sceptical of anything in her life.

"It would not be possible for you to conceive today, at any rate. It will be five more weeks at least, probably more for your mind. I am in no hurry to rush you, either."

"But . . ." she considered the information. A faint memory flickered in the small corner of her mind that was graced by light. "You said that you loved me."

Realising it was a question, Aro answered. "Yes." His eyebrows furrowed with confusion and curiosity. _What is his pet human up to now?_

"And Sulpicia said she was fine with _us._ "

"Yes."

"So, I'm confused."

He seemed confused too. "Show me your thoughts." He reached to take her hand but she twisted her body violently away from him. The ultimate snub.

 _He lied to you. He was using you._

"You lied to me. You were using me. You saw that I was vulnerable and you took advantage. You don't love me at all. Even more – I think you don't really love anybody here. You love _power._ And you'd get power by making your collection of gifted people – or whatever you call us – more than equal to your _friend_ Carlisle's. A friend you're going to kill. He's not really a threat, is he? Just an excuse for you to build your arsenal."

He was quick to respond. "No, Lillian, why would you ever think that? Of course, I love you; why would I want you above all other humans?"

"But not over all other women though."

"I have a job with a lot of power simply because most are not prepared to make the decisions it requires." She made a concrete note of his avoidance of the topic.

She raised her eyebrows sceptically. "You told me a vampire's _most intense desire_ is for power. _Most_ would _want_ your job. Which is why you need the army."

"You're very intelligent Lillian, but I'm afraid you're wrong on this one. The Guard does fight, yes, but it is to protect our peaceful society from those who wish to destroy it, as I have explained before. Do you remember?"

"Don't patronise me," she snarled. _"Now_ would be the time to leave me alone."

He didn't show it on his face, but it was clear to Lillian that Aro had no idea how to respond. What he decided to say angered her further. "Lillian, I understand you. You have been through a very traumatic event, now you must rest and recover." He passed her the silver tray with the food. "You will feel better in time to come, and until then you will also be experiencing abnormal mood swings. Please, eat something."

 _You think I'm just being hormonal?_

That tore it.

Like a natural reflex, Lillian fluidly threw the tray across the room. It collided with the wall with a clatter and the several plates shattered and splintered on the floor, pieces of food and streams of drink splashed colourfully over the carpet.

"I loved my baby."

He put his hand gently on the back of her head. "I loved her too."

"Liar."

In her mind, Aro couldn't possibly understand how much Lillian had loved that unborn child. It was the only thing in her world who would have loved her unconditionally, always been by her side, looked up to her and comforted her. Her heart felt so broken that she was unsure she could ever heal it. Her daughter had been her world. Her daughter, who she would never know was really a girl or not. She could still see the child in her vision – in her arms, swaddled in soft rose blanket, her ice blue eyes gazing up into her mother's, and the beginnings of a childish smile on her baby face. _And Aro feels nothing for her._ How dare he. How could he see this scenario in her mind so many times – his daughter, who he should have loved and cherished and grieved with all he had – and act like it was no big deal to him at all that she had died before she'd even had a chance to live, and act like it was nothing to him that the mother had gone through so much suffering and pain just because the physical agony would not last forever? Lillian's love for her dead child was so strong that she was certain that she hated Aro now, with every fibre of her being. She would never let him touch her in any way again.

"I have no reason to lie to you. I would never do it." He was still so calm and collected, Lillian suddenly understood that he was acting. An actor, and therefore had been playing a part the entire time. He had deceived her, and used her for his own gain. She found it increasingly hard to contain her fury as it burned her inside and accelerated her heartbeat. She shut her eyes tight, refusing to even look at him, and took several quick, deep breaths. She could still smell some of the food, faintly now, blanketed by the closer scent of the fresh sheets she sat in.

"Can't you see I don't want to be around you right now?"

She heard nothing.

She kept her eyes shut painfully tight, waiting for a sign that he was gone so she could finally open them again and curl up in the duvet in blissful solitary. Minutes passed, and still nothing. What was that creep doing, just standing there and watching her? Her anger getting the better of her, Lillian opened her eyes and slammed her fist into the wall beside her head where Aro had been standing.

She was alone.

* * *

"What's wrong with you?"

"Huh?"

Lillian woke to two small figures in black standing over her, red eyes glaring into her face. She blinked a few times, and the blurry picture slowly morphed into one she could see.

"You upset Aro."

"You upset our family."

A low chuckle erupted from the other side of the room, but before Lillian could finish turning to grin at Felix, fire tore through her body and her teeth ripped into her lower lip as her back arched in agony. It took a second for her to realise what was happing. She wouldn't give Jane the satisfaction of a scream.

The pain stopped after a few seconds of eternity. Lillian figured that the twins had just overheard something and come to confront her on their own, as she knew that Aro would never sanction her torture, even if she had upset him. His methods were manipulation and coercing, not threats or physical torment, especially if he needed the person in question to have a positive view of him and the Volturi. _So you have a problem. You love your baby too much to ever like Aro again, and Jane loves Aro too much to ever like you again._

"Jane, _you_ are going to upset Aro if you do that to her."

"He doesn't need her anymore," Jane argued, "another human can fill her place. _This_ one has proven to be more of a nuisance than useful."

Felix disagreed. "Even if that were true," he disputed, "she has the inability to die. If she wasn't turned, you would still have to live with her for most of this century, and she could make that insufferable for you if you provoke her. Any human would."

"I must agree, sister," Alec chimed in. Lillian didn't like that none of them were asking her opinion. But then again, none of them would believe her side of the story. "Besides, we know humans change their minds all the time. She is upset at the moment, but she'll get over it. In time, she will probably come to love us all again, and fulfil her original purpose. You shouldn't think of her as something that can't heal or change like us – she will. That is certain."

"She'll never recover from the loss of the child."

"Absolutely, Felix," Jane smirked. "She has to go."

"But she can learn to love us again." He was suddenly by her side, on the same side of the bed as the twins. Did he not fear Jane? Or was she under instruction never to use her gift on her colleagues? _Though that would make no sense seeing as_ _she just did that to me._ "Which she _won't_ if you do that to her."

"Since when did you care about the human?" Alec inquired.

The conversation continued in voices too low for Lillian to hear. She rolled her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. When would she finally be free of this life? It felt as if she were doomed to live an eternity imprisoned by people who only abused and used her. She felt like a ship finally going down in a stormy sea. _And no one will rescue me_.

She'd have to rescue herself.

But if she did leave, what was life on the outside world like? Would she be able to cope? Would there be people who would be there for her, or were the experiences she already had representative of the life everyone had?

Her mournful daydream was brought to an end by a cold hand taking hers. Instinctively she wrenched her hand away. "Something wrong?"

It was just Felix.

She sat up warily, but relaxed when she realised the twins were gone. "Not anymore." _I want to leave Volterra._ She almost told Felix of her desire, but she realised that even though he was her friend and his intentions seemed to be good, Aro would know everything she said to him. If she was to share her thoughts with Felix, Aro would not only know, but he might use Felix to manipulate her. She couldn't allow that to happen.

 _But you can use Felix to manipulate Aro. Make him believe you've told him a secret that isn't actually true. Aro will think it is and act on that. Go on, say something._

 _Like what?_

 _Maybe . . ._

 _No._ As much of a good idea it was, to try to escape by making Aro think she was thinking things she wasn't, she couldn't deceive the only person here who didn't seem intent on using her or making her into another one of Aro's devoted minions. She felt conflicted.

"You can tell me. Actually," he chuckled, "don't. I can't care about human problems."

Lillian found herself throwing her head back and guffawing. "At last! The only honest person here!"

For a moment, as the conversation flowed, she forgot her pain.


	8. Chapter 8 - Depth

The ice melted slowly, bleeding freezing water through the lines in her palm, burning where the solid ice remained frozen to her skin. Lillian felt like she should drop the little cube from the pain, but she was almost numb to it. She registered the stinging as the cube ripped off little pieces of skin as she unclenched her fist, like a cuboid snow globe – but the snow was on the outside, and dotted with red.

"What are you doing?"

Lillian slowly set the ice on the mahogany bedside table, and strained to turn around, her bones feeling ancient and every breath forced and full of dust. "Nothing important." She didn't want to raise her eyes, but she feared getting herself into more trouble so badly.

Aro met her gaze where he stood by the door, his face crossed with genuine concern. "You made yourself bleed, sweetling."

She raised her sore palm and looked at it, yet not fully registering what had happened. "Oh." She took a step towards him and hit the table with her hip, knocking the pitcher of iced water to the floor, but not before Chelsea caught it in a flash. Lillian's heart stopped, and she jumped back. She hadn't seen her enter the room. "Thanks," she whispered as Chelsea placed the pitcher back in its original position.

The two girls made eye contact for a brief moment, then Chelsea looked back at Aro for a whole second, then back to Lillian with a sweet smile. Was something wrong? "No problem," the beautiful vampire replied to Lillian.

Lillian looked back at Aro, who had taken a couple of steps into the middle of the room. It was the same room as she'd been living in when she was expecting. "How are you feeling?" His soft, whispery voice asked. She relaxed. _He will never hurt me._

"I'm okay." She curled her hand back into a fist, blinked her eyes and ground her teeth, emerging from her depersonalised state. "I'm sorry for what I said. I wasn't in the right mind. I'm sorry."

"I know, my love, I understand."

She held up her hand again. "This is okay for you? I thought the blood . . ."

Aro flitted to her side and took both her hands in his. The scarlet blood on her right hand imprinted the delicate pattern of lines from her palm onto his ashen skin. "I am used to your scent and your heartbeat. I can smell the blood, but it doesn't make me any thirstier."

"And Chelsea? She's fine with my blood too?" Lillian asked, confused, her light blue eyes searching the cherry room for the other vampire, who seemed to have vanished just as magically as she had entered.

"Chelsea – and also Heidi – has common interactions with humans so she is less affected by the scent of their blood than most. But," he countered and kissed her wrist in a way that made her feel just as excited as it would have when they had first met, "you _must not_ do this again. You are very precious to me Lillian, and I would be extraordinarily upset if you were to be killed because you bled too much around the wrong person. Accidents _do_ happen."

"I know. I'm sorry." She felt ashamed. Now that she was coming to terms with the past month since that traumatic incident, it was dawning on her that Aro had done nothing wrong. He hadn't meant to hurt her by letting her heal alone, he hadn't been manipulating her or lying to her. She had been just too shaken to think properly; too shaken to try to understand. "I'm sorry that I failed too."

His hands released hers and gently gripped her upper arms by the soft white velvet sleeves of her dress. "Lillian, you did not fail." He frowned. "How much do you know about the human body?"

She didn't like how he was talking in more simple terms to her today, but nonetheless she let it go. _I won't do any more arguing. And he's probably doing that so I don't have to think too hard._

 _Keep telling yourself that._

"I don't know much. Is there something I should know?"

"Yes. Perhaps I should have told you this before," he mused, his cerise eyes thoughtful. "Most human pregnancies end in miscarriage."

Her eyes widened. "M- _most_? Most of them?" _Am I going to have to go through that again?_

"Not often this late." He kissed her forehead sensitively. "I take responsibility for it. I should have left you to recover from your torment for much longer than I had." He stepped away from her, his handsome face brightening with sudden remembrance of something unknown. "Come, I have something to show you."

"Oh, okay." She smiled. A mirror in the corner of the room caught her attention, captivating her with her own smile that transformed magically into a grin as she saw her mouth full of teeth. What could Aro be thinking of showing her? He had done so much for her already – the private dentist that had visited her a week ago must have cost a fortune. _He's so full of surprises._

She slipped on a pair of casual white sneakers by the foot of the bed and jogged for a moment to catch up with Aro, now stood tall and smart in the doorway, in his version of a casual suit that made her wonder if he ever dressed down.

"What is it?" She asked curiously as he closed the door behind them with a click.

"Something new we have _just_ finished installing my love," he sang. "Time moves slower for us than for mortals; while we are the ruling coven we are often bored, or deprived, shall we say, of interests in which to partake or that we have not yet tried. Thus," he giggled as he threw open a set of heavy double doors with such a flourish that they may as well have been made of feathers and not oak, "I am trying something new."

Lillian's eyes gazed curiously at his skip as he continued down the corridor faster than her. There were so many corridors and passages in this underground castle and each one so different her eyes would struggle to adjust. On this route, her small feet half sank into the chocolate carpet framed by gorgeous forest green walls. A small dark table sat by the far door by which Aro paused, supporting a small scent diffuser. Lillian froze as she stared at the ceiling, as black as coal, as oppressive as the weight of the hill above it, as enveloping and as fearsome as the claustrophobia she had been close to beating yet swallowed her breath; choked her with the dainty scent of pine needles from the vial.

She wrenched her eyes away and ran to Aro's side. He pulled her to his side, his arm around her waist. She took his hand and pressed her thumb to his palm.

"Close your eyes," he instructed her. She did as she was told, and suddenly she was flying. The air rushed past her body and through her hair like a soft, quick breeze, but she could still smell Aro close to her, holding her sturdily. As she felt him slow, and the rustle of a plastic sheet prickle in her ears, she thought about opening her eyes. "Not yet," he chuckled.

"What's funny?" She asked. Where were they now?

"I wonder . . ." He sniggered again.

Just as she was about to ask again, she was airborne.

Something smacked hard into her as she opened her eyes which she immediately shut tighter as her left one began to sting and she was sinking. She tried to take a deep breath but was met with water instead. Panicked she splashed and a moment later her head broke the surface, her lungs gasping for breath after the shock.

Her eyes searched near frantically around her. She was in a swimming pool. She'd seen some on the television. She spotted Aro standing by the pool's edge. He was laughing, an infectious high-pitched laugh that made her giggle too. She tried to swim over to him but suddenly he was gone, a flicker to her right. Her head darted in the same direction but her human reaction was too slow.

"How do you like it?" Aro questioned as he surfaced behind her and with a splash pulled her to his chest. She relaxed – swimming when she didn't know how was effort, not to mention terrifying.

"Why did you do that?"

"To see how you would react," he answered cheerily.

"Very funny," she replied sarcastically.

"Do you think I would let water hurt you?"

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him. The water was a pleasant warm, not uncomfortable despite her being fully clothed. "I guess you're going to teach me how to swim?"

"I have no need." He stroked the back of her head. "You'll be able to do it instinctively as a vampire."

 _If I ever become a vampire._

"Of course you will! Do not be disheartened; it will happen soon, when you are ready."

"I . . . I want to help. You asked me to do something for you, to have that baby, and I . . . I want to do that before you turn me. I don't want to be useless anymore." The sadness in her voice unnerved her. She hated feeling so weak. And she wouldn't feel weak as a vampire – nor would she if Aro was pleased with her. It was not only that, however – Lillian felt warm inside at the thought of the child, as if having one of her own would heal the hole in her life that had been left wide open since she had been born – the hole where her parents' love would have been. If she couldn't fix her own family, why not start a new one? A new family, with all her new friends by her side?

Her feet kicked shakily in the water. She couldn't touch the bottom.

Aro heard her thoughts and smiled warmly. "Such a touching image," he sighed happily, water dripping down his black hair, "I would be most happy to support you. You were never useless to me – you are far too gifted, too special to be considered so."

She looked into his eyes as he spoke, the colour not reminding her of the blood he drank, but the colour of his heart she was sure was in his chest. She saw heaven in them. A beauty that no one compared to; the kind she would never see twice. He had won her trust, and she was falling for him as if there had never been a point when she hadn't loved him. After all – his voice was a song, his walk was a dance; she'd never really had a chance.

In the next moment she knew their lips were touching. His were as hard as granite but neither rough nor damaging; hers as soft as cotton candy, and docile, malleable. She tasted his breath in her mouth, sweet and subtle – but with the sour edge of a nervous pang in her gut when she wondered how she may smell to him. _You smell like dinner._

It felt like it would last forever. This wasn't the first time he had kissed her like this, but it may well have been for the joyous reaction her heart was pumping out. Her emotions and her feelings towards him had changed today so rapidly that she didn't know if she still hated or loved him, but every time his lips touched hers it ruined her mind at the speed of light. This moment wasn't to be interrupted even if it was wrong. There was a labyrinth trapping her in her own head, and maybe finally accepting Aro was the window of light at the end.

Maybe it was the way he spellbound her, so alluring she couldn't get enough.

She could never get enough of Aro.

* * *

 _Oh my God. He makes me feel like I'm pretty._

She gazed up at the golden vent on the ceiling of her bedroom as Heidi brushed her hair. It was insufferably knotted; she and Aro had had things on their minds when they left the pool other than drying their hair.

She was so excited she giggled aloud.

"What's up?" Heidi asked, smoothing down Lillian's hair and picking up one lock in her left hand, and a strange looking metal pole in the other.

"Aro and I are going to try again."

"To do what?" Heidi wrapped the hair around the pole, and released it after a few seconds, and Lillian's eyes widened in surprise at the new curls bordering the right side of her face.

"To prove that Renesmee should live. Have another baby. I know more about what I'm doing now, and I don't feel . . . I don't know . . . out of my depth?"

Heidi's kind red eyes gazed right into Lillian's as she curled another lock of hair. "Yes, you should do that."

"Why do you think that? Aren't the Cullens some sort of threat?" She reached for her glass of water, this time given to her without ice, and took a refreshing sip as she straightened up. Her back hurt a little from hitting the water, but that wasn't the only part of her body that felt sore. It wasn't a bad hurt though – she was glad.

"They could be if they wanted to be, that's the problem the way I see it. Aro knows more about it."

"I want to know what you and everyone else think."

"Well," Heidi paused, accentuating her German accent, "we agree with Aro. But personally, I don't see much harm in the vegetarians – their dangerousness is solely based on whether a member of their family is under threat. I've met Carlisle. He would never stand against us unless he believed he had no choice."

"That being if one of his family committed a crime?"

"Tricky one," Felix but in, unexpectedly by her side. She hadn't seen him in a while.

"Hey Felix," Lillian greeted him happily. "How are you?"

"Thirsty," the giant of a vampire grinned, and winked down at her. She laughed.

"Heidi, when do you go out to get more food for you guys?"

"Tomorrow morning," Heidi replied, taken aback by the human's acceptance of the vampire diet. She pushed Lillian more towards Felix to reach the back of her head with the curling iron.

"You're taking one of the jets, right?"

"Yes, the seven-twenty-seven. Why do you ask?"

"I've only been on a plane two times before, when I was seven. So, I was wondering, could I come with you?"

Heidi and Felix exchanged a perplexed glance. "Why would you want to greet over seventy humans before they die?"

She hadn't thought about that. "I don't care about them. I don't have any connection with any humans anywhere. I just want to fly on a plane again."

Felix chuckled deeply. "That's the spirit!"

"Hm?"

"Human lives mean nothing. You're going to have no problem adjusting when you finally join us. You should go." He smirked menacingly.

"Exactly." Lillian beamed, abruptly overwhelmed with pride. "All human lives mean nothing except mine. I'm better than they are." She gazed at the fading mark on her left wrist where a chain had been two months ago, and her eyes traced up her arm to the faint green bruises on her bicep. _I can survive more than they can too._ Clearly, she was better than them – stronger, braver, fitter. _I was born to be a vampire. And vampires treat me like I should have been treated by humans. The myths and legends are all wrong. It's humans who are evil._

"I've never heard that one before," Felix smirked. "But if it's true that you can't die . . ."

"No," Heidi snapped. "You're not going to test that."

 _I wish I could hear what they say under their breath though._ "Test what?" Lillian asked Felix.

It was Heidi who answered as Felix threw himself on the bed, making Lillian jump. "He wants to know if he could drink your blood without killing you."

Lillian only shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. Probably. But it would hurt a lot, I think." She glared Felix in the eyes, half-jokingly. "And Aro wouldn't be pleased with you."

"I am aware," he sneered, "I have as much respect for him as you do. Why do you think I haven't helped myself to a little snack yet?" He winked.

Lillian rolled her eyes. "The only one who gets to drink my blood is my baby."

"The _baby_?"

"Yeah. Aro says that Renesmee was drinking Bella's blood from inside her, and that's what made Bella so weak. But I wasn't weak before, remember? I must have enough blood for the baby, so maybe enough for you, but I don't want to risk it. It's important."

Felix sat up on the quilt and played with her new curls, much to Heidi's annoyance. "I was only joking," he snickered, "you don't even smell that good."

"Oh really?" Lillian opened her mouth and widened her eyes in mock shock and put her hands to her chest. "Ouch. I'm offended. I smell _very_ good, thank you very much."

Heidi shuffled to Lillian's left side to finish the last set of curls. "You do have to admit Felix, she does smell rather tasty."

"See?" Lillian wittily stuck out her tongue at Felix, now sat where Heidi had been. Their quick changing around of positions confused her for a moment. A slight breeze washed around the room, perking up the hairs on her bare arms. She was in a white tank top now, and jeans. The morning's white velvet dress had been sent somewhere to fix what the pool had done to it. _And Aro._ She giggled.

"That's not particularly good, _meine geliebter Schwester_. You live with vampires. You don't want us to eat you." She bared her teeth in a sort of smile, sort of warning. Lillian wondered what she'd said in German. She'd ask Aro later, after she'd had dinner.

She had been learning to cook, and yesterday's memories of the smells of rosemary, thyme and red wine made her lick her lips. She'd made a pasta dish from a recipe book (that she so proudly read by herself!) and had shared it with the receptionist. It was a different girl at the desk near the tower compared to when she'd first arrived, and she could figure out what happened to the first. Empathetic, Lillian decided to share whatever she made tonight with the girl too. She hadn't bothered to learn her name or try to make friends – it was pointless – but she could try to make her have a good time here in Volterra before she died.

Lillian was so glad she wasn't in the girl's shoes.


End file.
